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Dreamers and Fighters

A house of red bricks was prominent in the Steibtz market square. On its front façade, wide steps were leading the visitor inside a large and expansive shop, crammed full of merchandise of all types of materials. An iron gate, on the left side of the house, blocked the entrance to the yard and into the house. Inside, the house was furnished in good taste and it could be seen that diligent hands took good care of its organization.

In the house it was quiet, and the patriarchal presence was felt by the attitude of the children towards their parents.

Yosef saw the first light in this house when he was born in 1913 to his father Shlomo and his mother Sima. Here he grew up and absorbed his first education. Yosef acquired excellent knowledge and guidance at school. His agitated soul absorbed the love of the people and the homeland.

Yosef Harkavy

As stated, Yosef studied at the Tarbut^[1] school. He was a pedant and excelled in all his studies. When he finished the Tarbut elementary school, where he acquired a basic knowledge of Hebrew, Bible, and Jewish history, he continued his studies at the Polish school. Here, too, he excelled in his knowledge. When he graduated, he did not continue to high school, as was customary then, but went to a technical vocational school in Warsaw.

It was not pleasant, especially for a well-to-do Jew like Shlomo Harkavy, who sat on the eastern side of the synagogue^[2] to teach his son a craft, but Yosef persisted and strived for productivity, as guided by the movement, in anticipation of self-realization and aliyah to Eretz^[3]. Yosef found his place, as did many of the young students in our town, in the ranks of the “Hashomer Hatzair” youth movement. At first, he was in the framework of sporting scouts, and then in the movement of Marxist ideology, with hair-splitting and enthusiastic discussions until the late hours of the night. He related to everything seriously, belonged to the elite, and was active in the ken^[4] as one of the members of the leadership, and as a counselor of the young level. He joined in the circle of the stormy hora^[5] enthusiastically, and with all his being he danced and pulled others with him. Within the walls of the ken, every night of the week, and especially on Friday evenings at the traditional Oneg Shabbat^[6], Yosef joined the singing of the meal participants, and his voice rose higher and higher, singing pioneer songs, Chassidic, revolutionary, and also cantillation melodies.

They sing and move from tune to tune. Yosef joins in and sings until his throat is hoarse. When the ken prepares to perform Masada by Lamdan^[7], Yosef receives one of the prime roles and is prominent on the stage as an excellent actor. After finishing his studies in Warsaw, he was drafted into the Polish army in the air force unit – a rare event for a Jew in the state regime in Poland before the Second World War.

After finishing his service in the army he left for hakhshara^[8] in Kibbutz Massad.

The gates of Israel were then closed. Yosef returned to Warsaw for his professional work and created a family nest. With the outbreak of the war in 1939, he returned with his family to Steibtz. He also got a job in the new Soviet regime.

In 1941, with the arrival of the Germans, he went to forced labor together with all his townspeople. He related to the new life with unwillingness and passiveness, and it is astonishing that the daring Yosef with the stormy soul, destined to be a leader and commander, did not show any signs of action. He rejected all his friends' suggestions to go to the forest and did not take an interest in anything.

After the great massacre of the Steibtz Jews, after the Day

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of Atonement in the year 5703 (September 1942), Yosef shook himself from his lethargy and decided to leave the town and go into the forests and fight. Yosef was asked to be the commander of an armed group of 19 people. At the beginning of October, we left Steibtz Ghetto for the forest, according to all the military rules, under the command of Yosef Harkavy. At sunset, we cut the barbed wire fence and made our way east to the Shvery-Nava Forests.

Yosef stood before the ranks as a strict military commander with no compromise. Everything had to be correct and they respected him as such. Together with this, he was honest in his behavior and his relationship with people to a point of extremity.

On the second day, an argument arose between him and several of the group, who did not like hearing his commands. A fierce argument broke out then and hands were raised. In the end, he knew how to take control of the situation and enforce the militant side. He strove to insert complete equality into the life of the group – he ordered that even the loaves of bread be divided equally among all. He took command of the group with the utmost military proficiency and with special adaptation to the situation.

In the forests, we once met a group of partisans who promised us to show the way and guide us to our desired destination, to Glyczyk's otriad^[9]. When they brought us to a certain village, the group succeeded in taking our weapons from us by devious means.

Yosef, thanks to his vigorous activity, managed to retrieve the weapons.

Yosef came to Gilczyk's regiment together with the entire group. From his first day, he remained the commander of the group. He was known to many as a successful commander and a daring partisan. He participated actively in all the preparations for the battle operations. Sometimes he was happy and jocular. He knew how to arouse a few memories from the recent past into daily life. The lads of yore, and the friends from the movements, around the bonfire and devotedly sang Chassidic songs and songs of Israel. The gentiles stood opposite with gaping mouths and gazed at the spectacular sight with extraordinary respect and admiration, looking at the group of Jews, led by Yosef Harkavy, who radiated some unknown content that was expressing some idea or ideal. After this, they approached Yosef, thanked him, and requested that he continue with this pleasant mood. He knew how to live the life of the forest while striving for his aim: to defeat the Germans.

I willingly accepted the mission when it fell on me to be together with him in various tasks at night or to go out on the paths. Yosef knew how to tell stories, and to talk endlessly about different things, in a pleasant and friendly way so people didn't feel how time passed. Sometimes within the otriad, a hostile atmosphere prevailed towards the Jews. Yosef took an honorable stand and when he heard that there were many Jews in the distant forests of Naliboki, his soul desired to be there amongst his people.

And thus, he decided, together with his group, to move on and get to the Naliboki Forests. As the head of the Jewish group, he arrived in the thick Naliboki Forests, and there found his brother and continued his activities in the new location.

In one of his operations he, and several other young men from Steibtz, were surrounded by a group of Polish anti-Semites, the men of the A.K^[10]. They opened with counter-fire but did not succeed in breaking out of the encirclement. In these circumstances, Yosef met his death.

Moshe Zaretsky, son of Leyzer, was born in 1920. His father was known in the town as an artistic engraver, and owner of a workshop that also employed several workers. He tried to give his son an education. His son, Moshe, inherited from his father a tendency and love for craftsmanship and also diligence for studies.

Since their economic situation was strong, the son exploited the possibilities. He traveled to Vilna to learn electricity and radio at the Technion and excelled in his studies.

The war in 1939 put a stop to the continuation of his studies. Moshe Zaretsky returned to his birthplace. Following the German conquest, Moshe Zaretsky devoted all his strength to work on resistance to the Germans. With the help of his father and a few other trusted friends, he organized underground actions against the Germans and collected all sorts of weapons. In the cellar under the house, they organized hidden cubicles in an amazing shape that no one could have imagined. There, in the hiding places, they hid a radio receiver and various weapons, which had been smuggled in secretly from the army camp in the town, from the booty of the Soviet army. This work was done by him and his loyal friends.

In October 1942, Moshe left with a group of 11 people, some of whom were armed, to the nearby forests. Over eight days the extermination operation raged in Steibtz. The Germans searched and overturned the houses of the Jews, but did not succeed in finding the hiding place of the weapons.

During the tribulations of travel in the forests, Moshe became very sick, and in order not to delay the group in advancing, he returned, with their agreement, to the ghetto to recuperate and to rejoin the fighters at a later date in the forests. Indeed, he succeeded in infiltrating the town and returning to the ghetto. However, he was killed by the Germans in the ghetto in the second massacre.

He was honest in his life and loyal to all his friends. May his memory be blessed and bound in the bond of eternal holiness.

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Boaz was the son of R' Asher and Rachel (née Izgur), from Postova Street at the corner of Paromneh Street. Until the First World War, his father was a teacher and he remained known as “Asher the Teacher.”

He was very handsome, with an attractive appearance and well-mannered. He would speak pleasantly and related respectively to the elderly and especially to the younger ones. He had a national-Zionist outlook, donated generously to the National Funds^[11] and various charity institutions. During the war, he neglected teaching and moved to commerce, and over time he did well and succeeded in his business.

Their house was always full of hustle and bustle of the many visitors. On the Sabbaths, at twilight, Asher would even manage to read a book.

In that home, Boaz was raised.

Boaz began his studies in the Tarbut school. He was a good pupil, punctual and among the top pupils of his class. Afterward, he continued his studies in the local government gymnasia^[12].

With the founding of the Hashomer Hatsa'ir youth movement, he was among the first of the youth who joined its ranks. The gates of Eretz-Yisrael were closed and he could not make aliyah.

Boaz grew up. He was tall, with blond hair, always neat and pleasant. He married Frumkah, daughter of Itche Bernstein.

With the invasion of the Germans, he found his place in the ghetto, together with his wife and small child. After the first massacre, he was one of the initiators and organizers of the group escaping to the forests, a well-armed unit of youth, under the command of Yosef Harkavy.

In the forests, he was prominent as a courageous fighting partisan and actively participated in all the battle operations.

In spring 1943, he left the Polesian forests with a group of Steibtz townspeople, and they went to search for Jews in the Naliboki Forests. In these forests, he met his death in an armed clash with a Polish nationalistic A.K unit. Together with him, four other Steibtz townspeople fell in the same battle.

From the dawn of his childhood, he was known as having a strong character, decisive and determined, and never knew the feeling of fear. He was gifted with a brilliant mind, a smooth tongue, and amazing expressiveness. These latter characteristics stood him well in always getting out of every matter and argument, with the upper hand. He always knew how to prove logically and with full confidence, that he was in the right, and this too raised the envy of his comrades.

And once it happened, one morning, while he was still a pupil on his way to school, that a Christian youth attacked him in one of the streets. He had a satchel of books in his hand, and in his pocket, a banknote which he had to give to his instructor at school. He was one surrounded by many. Hirsh didn't turn in another direction to search for a way of retreat. Instinctively he felt that he must resist. The youths threw him down and beat him till he was bloody. Even from this position he did not get excited and hurried to stuff the banknote into his mouth so that it would not fall into the hands of his rivals. The money got stuck in his throat and almost choked him. He was taken to the hospital and there the money was pulled out from his mouth.

In September 1939, during the days of bombing and the siege on Warsaw, he was with his family outside the city hiding from the bombing. Outside there was abnormal movement. The Poles noticed and claimed that several people in German army uniform had been seen in the area and disappeared mysteriously. Hirsh, with his natural sense of observation, saw one Pole who, as usual, stood out in his appearance as a loyal Polish patriot. He realized that this Pole was hiding the Germans in his house. After this, he was forced to move out with his family, for their lives were endangered.

He continued in his daring activities everywhere. With his connections with the Germans, Hirsh, together with Vittenberg, chairman of the Judenrat^[13] in Steibtz, succeeded in obtaining from the German authorities a license to import building materials to construct a building to house the Jews in the ghetto. Later, when the wagons loaded with building material were entering and leaving the ghetto, Hirsh managed to exploit the time to secretly smuggle a good number of rifles and also hand grenades into the ghetto.

This was a daring and dangerous action.

As mentioned, Hirsh was liked by the Germans whom he met. He was especially in close contact with the inspector of the railway station, an easy-going man and serious in his relationships with the Jews at that time. But the second person with whom he came into direct contact, was the German Krulchick, who was known for his inhumane cruelty to the Jewish workers. Hirsh also knew how to befriend him as if to gain his loyalty. Despite the signs of friendship that the German Krulchik showed towards him, Hirsh hated him and desired to take revenge,

Hirsh Posesorski

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There were endless reasons for this phenomenon.

Groups of Jews were busy working in the area of the railway track as was their daily routine. One day, a passenger train, carrying many wounded from the front, stopped in the area of the station. Krulchik found the opportunity to maltreat the Jewish women. On the track, between two trains, he stood the working women with their faces opposite the wounded soldiers and ordered them to shout: “We the Jews are guilty of the war.” After that, he ordered them to run the length of the railway track while the Germans “honored” them with rubber truncheons.

He told Hirsh to enter one of the wagons so that he would be witness to this humiliating show. Over time, Krulchick searched for ways to get rid of Hirsh, who knew that he [Krulchik] had done many forbidden things. Thus, he suggested to the inspector that Hirsh be sent to Germany to work as a Christian worker. The inspector did not agree to this. Nevertheless, he gave Hirsh an identity card of a Christian citizen, saying to him that one day the card would be useful to him.

Many commanders harassed Hirsh in the partisan battalion. They coveted his weapon (Parabel^[14]), and tried to embitter his life. Sometimes, he was sent daily to different tasks without giving him time to rest.

Among those who harassed him was the Commissar Martinov, who desired, at any price, to get Hirsh's weapon. By the way, in the end, Martinov met his death by being executed by a partisan trial.

More than once, Hirsh was sent to carry out operations where almost certain death awaited him, and he never surrendered to the pressure. He continued to resist handing over his weapon and extricated himself from every complication. In addition, he claimed: “I will agree to pass over my weapon only after I succeed in carrying out my intention to kill the German Krulchik with this weapon from whom it was taken.”

In the daring operation to liberate the Jews of Swerznie, Hirsh managed to approach the railway station, to meet with Christian workers, and tell them that around the town there were several thousands of partisans and when given a certain sign, they would attack the town. He searched for Krulchik to kill him.

Hirsh liberated the Jews of Swerznie. Most of them were brought to the otriad, none had weapons. The headquarters had already received the news that unarmed Jews were arriving in droves.

In those days, the Germans had a method of taking all manpower from the conquered areas and transferring them to German territory. On the other hand, the partisan headquarters decided to enlist the village youths, as much as possible, into the ranks of the partisans. There was a lack of arms and, in addition, more unarmed Jews had arrived. Tempers flared at the headquarters.

After the daring operation and days of roving, Hirsh returned to the otriad (the regiment). He felt personal satisfaction in having saved the Jews from a massacre and planned to continue living in the otriad. He was suddenly summoned. The commander, Glyczyk, wanted to see him. Glyczyk, together with the Politruk^[15] Viner approached Hirsh's residence. Glyczyk was very angry and upset. He spat vigorous partisan curses. He turned to Hirsh and shouted in a raging fury: “how dare you bring unarmed people, at a time when you were warned not to bring anyone without a weapon?” On saying this he “honored” Hirsh with two resounding slaps on his face. After Hirsh had absorbed the blows he answered coolly: “I fulfilled my role, I got these people out and brought them here. They have valuable gold, which they refused to give me and are ready to give to the headquarters. There will be weapons for us as well.”

Glyczyk and Viner turned their back with a smile fluttering hovering on their lips.

A few days later, the people of Swerznie left to remove the weapons from their hiding places and bring them to the otriad. Hirsh returned tired and weary from an operation. He hurried to make all the preparations and left as head of the group to bring the longed-for weapons. This was the last operation of his life. Many pieces of evidence have been given about this operation and its tragic end.

Hirsh and his friends succeeded in the mission. The hidden arms were retrieved from their hiding place and carried back to the otriad with pride. The headquarters had received notice that Possesorski was approaching with the booty of arms to the otriad. Times were difficult then. The partisans were chased by the Germans, moved from place to place. On the way, Hirsh met Anenchenko, who was the police commander of Swerznie and put in charge of guarding the Jews in the ghetto. After the Jews had been extricated from the ghetto, Anenchenko fled with several other men to the forests from fear of revenge by the Germans.

Once, when Posesorski was not present at the encampment of the battalion because of some duty, Anenchenko, with the help of his men, relieved the group of their weapons. Hirsh returned and was furious at the group that had agreed to turn over their weapons. Hirsh turned to Anenchenko and his men saying that they must return the weapons for which his group had risked their lives. It is not befitting for men of war to get anything effortlessly. A partisan must obtain a weapon by his own hands. Anenchhenko's men were influenced to a degree by his words and tended to agree. When Anenchenko saw that he was losing the trust of his men, he slyly approached Hirsh and extended his hand in peace, praised his courage, and said: “in your veins runs the blood of heroes and you are not at all like the other cowardly Jews.” At the same moment that Hirsh put out his hand, Anenchenko suddenly pulled the trigger of the gun in his hand, and Hirsh was hit and fell wallowing in his blood. He was left there and was not brought for burial.

“How the mighty are fallen upon thy high places and the weapons of war perished!”^[16]

The people who met their death during the wars and in battles with the Nazis are diverse. Some of them are well known for their heroism, while others are unknown. They were modest and unknown during their life, and also when they fell on the battlefield in the partisan wars.

Yaacov Spiegel was a man like this in his way of life, and it seems to me that this appraisal of mine is similar to that of everyone who came in contact with him.

I feel a humane obligation to write about Yaacov Spiegel, although this man was foreign to our environs and came to us from another place and from a different way of life. The circumstances of the time, and the fate of the war, forced him to roam. He was very active in the capacity of preparing the revolt in our town. Because I knew him for some time

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and was close to him, and from my fragmented knowledge about him, I can devote something to his memory.

He was born in Tomaszów Mazowiecki in Poland in the year 1911 to traditional parents. He learned mathematics at Warsaw University but did not finish his studies, for he was arrested because of his communist activities.

In December 1939, he came to us from Bialystok together with his wife and a six- month-old baby in her arms. This was in the days of wandering of Polish refugees, who had escaped from the German-occupied areas and crossed the border to the Soviet areas.

When I first met Spiegel and his family, I felt obligated to invite them to my house until they had got organized. After I got to know him, I was impressed by the man in his modest ways, he was talented and with exceptional mental qualities, full of energy, sure of the future, intelligent with deep knowledge in areas of life. He was pleasant to everyone, and thus he captured my heart and the hearts of my family, and we respected him very much.

Spiegel got organized in the village of Zaluzia, about ten kilometers from Steibtz, as a bookkeeper in the factory for supplying firewood, called Gurtop in Russian.

After some time, he was invited to a conversation with the party's secretary in the area and was offered the job of editor at the Polish broadcasting station in Baronowicz. In Baronowicz, Spiegel entered his new job, while his wife helped him in editing and writing articles. In the meanwhile, another son was born to them, and it seemed that they were living happily and contented with their lot.

On 22 June 1941, they were in Baronowicz. They intended to leave and roam east again, but the German army preceded them, and again they remained in Steibtz and its surroundings. Steibtz was burnt down, and it was difficult to find a roof over their heads and so they moved to live in Swerznie.

Already in the winter of 1941, he lost his wife and sons, who were killed by the Germans.

There were those whose talents were needed by the authorities to deal with matters here and there and more than once they were helped by the Jews. Spiegel worked in one of the factories near the town, which was a storehouse of forest goods such as [unknown word], tar, etc. Peasants from the area, who transported various products, came to this place.

The Jewish camp was isolated from the outside world, with no knowledge of what was going on in the whole world.

Spiegel knew how to exploit his status. He came in direct contact with the farmers of the area. He knew well with which gentile he could be in contact to extract information from him, and with whom he had to be careful. Slowly, he made bonds of acquaintance with several trusted gentiles, and these brought him the news on what was going on in the forests, and also news they had heard on the radios which they had managed to hide somewhere, and not given to the Germans.

Already in the winter of 1941-42, Spiegel would gather the news and concentrate them in his memory, and afterward, he would pass them on to the people in the ghetto. He would insert many words of comfort and encouragement into the hearts of the desperate and hopeless people of the ghetto. More than once they were very grateful that in these hard times he succeeded in soothing their depressed souls, although it was difficult to believe in a good future and that in the end Hitler would suffer defeat and lose in the last battle. Nevertheless, they were grateful. His words of confidence and belief influenced the people positively.

He gathered a few young people around him. Every day he met them and gained their trust. Over time, he succeeded in penetrating their consciousness that the only way was to leave for the forests and join the partisans. His power of persuasion bore fruit. He was the first, and maybe the only one, who managed to comprehend the idea of preparation for armed resistance. He formulated the idea of going to the forests from our town. As a result of this, some groups acted in cooperation and separately. Over time, I saw that Spiegel became the spiritual leader of a group of people with whom he was in contact. It was enough to peep inside the ruins of Menaker's (Korte) house in the marketplace in front of the flour mill. This was the house that survived the fire without a roof, floor, or windows. Only the stone walls remained standing. Hildsheim, a refugee from Lodz, lived inside. He showed me, that in this hole a hand grenade was hidden, there was a rifle and there he was repairing a damaged rifle so that it could be used. In a miserable and abandoned room, a man resides and prepares weapons of war against the Nazis, with his wife and small daughter at his side. In the center of the town, the Jews dealt in weapons. These were the doings of Spiegel. They got used to the idea – to leave the town and go to the forest, before the Germans would annihilate them.

The winter passed. Spring came. Spiegel suggested that we leave for the forest. The road was blocked. It was necessary to grope in the dark. It was decided to send a scouting group who would be the first ones to leave the town. They would pass on the necessary information and after that, we would follow in their footsteps. April was coming to an end. The snows had already melted. The fields were covered in green. The weather was improving. The time was right to leave. It was necessary to exploit the summer for this action, for who knew what would happen in the meanwhile. It was decided that we must leave. Everything was ready.

There was no lack of volunteers to leave. The main question was who would be the head of the group. No one was willing to leave without Spiegel. The arguments continued. Some claimed that Spiegel must still stay in the town since he was the driving force and he would be the one to decide. It was decided that they must leave the town under Spiegel's command.

A Sunday (May 1942), a clear summer's day: Spiegel came to my house and told me that today they are on their way. I divulged this secret to my mother. She was trusted with the plans of the operation. Spiegel ate his last meal at our table. My mother packed him a towel and pieces of soap and more for the road. As was his custom, he was quiet and confident. We had a conversation about future ways of action. He was sure that very soon he would send news from the forest. He separated from my mother with great friendship. I accompanied him a good part of the way. We took leave as if it were a temporary separation. The feeling was that a devoted father and trusty guide were leaving us. But I hoped that we would meet again. We waited in vain for weeks and months for news. Here and there a rumor was put out that they had been caught and killed by the Germans, these were rumors of intimidation.

During the time I was in the forests, for almost two years, I yearned to meet Spiegel and see him at least once more. I never got to see him again.

Afterward, I heard from someone well informed:

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Spiegel was active as a courageous fighter in the ranks of the partisans. He participated in battles and also in other partisan operations. More than once he was surrounded and in great danger. Thus, he participated in the unsuccessful attack on the police station in Naliboki. As a result, a large number of partisans were killed, but he was saved by a miracle then. However, in one of the battles with the Germans, he met his death. Until the day of his death, he believed, with complete faith, that Nazi fascism would be entirely eradicated.

However, he did not get to hear the fanfares of victory.

Translator's Footnotes

1. Tarbut “Culture” in Hebrew, was a network of secular Zionist educational institutions that functioned in Poland in the interwar period. The language of instruction was Hebrew. Return
2. The eastern side of the synagogue was reserved for rabbis and other dignitaries. Return
3. Eretz – The Land of Israel. Return
4. Ken – “nest” in Hebrew – a local branch of a youth movement. Return
5. Hora – folk dance. Return
6. Oneg Shabbat– “joy of the Sabbath” in Hebrew and usually refers to a celebratory gathering held after Sabbath services, often with food, singing, study, discussion, and socializing. Return
7. Masada – Masada is a poem authored by poet Isaac Lamdan in the Land of Israel in the 1920s. The poem deals with a selection of peoples' issues of existence throughout the ages, and with the difficult time problems that have been on the public agenda since World War I in the Diaspora. The poem was read at festive events in Zionist youth movements and many other public events. (Wikipedia). Return
8. Hakhshara – (lit.“Preparation”) refers to agricultural institutes, similar to kibbutzim, where Zionist youth would learn technical skills necessary for their immigration to Israel. Return
9. Otriad – the Russian word for a partisan detachment, regiment. Return
10. A.K. The Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa, AK) was the dominant Polish resistance movement in Poland, occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, during World War II. (Wikipedia). Return
11. National Funds probably relate to the Zionistic Jewish National Fund and Keren Hayesod Haleumi Fund. Return
12. Gymnasia – high school. Return
13. Judenrat – German: a German-Jewish administrative council set up within a Jewish community in Nazi-occupied Europe to implement German policies and orders. Return
14. Parabel – Luger pistol. Return
15. Politruk – political commissar – a supervisory officer responsible for the political education (ideology) and organization of the unit they are assigned to and intended to ensure civilian control of the military (Wikipedia). Return
16. “How the mighty are fallen….!” From the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 1:19 and 1:27. It is an expression of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan's deaths. Return

Born in Steibtz in 1904. The son of Dov and Henia Aginsky.

From an extensive family, of good standing. His father died in the prime of his life and he was brought up by his mother.

He enlisted for active service in the Polish Army. He managed to wed and build his own house. He was a business man.

When war broke out he went to live in the Rubezevich ghetto. He purchased sophisticated weapons and went out to live the life of a partisan. Once he encountered Christian partisans who attacked a group of Jewish girls and to defend their honor, he stood up to them with great courage and fearlessness. During the battle he remembered the humane obligation: “all who save one soul of Israel, it is as if he saved a whole world”. And he lost his life defending these girl friends.

It is difficult to accept his death. Those who served with him in the unforgettable years will carry his memory in their hearts and will not forget him.

May his memory be blessed!

On the high hill between the railway station of Steibtz there is a windmill. The farmers from the area and the Jews of the town would bring their grains to be ground by the owners of the windmill. This was a proud, upstanding and hard working family, who would manually lift the sacks of grain. No one remains from this family. One of the sons –Yaacov, managed to escape to the forest with his son Yashika, where he was killed by a German bullet during the retreat, one day before the liberation.

Yashika, son of Yaacov and Chaya Peker, managed to escape to the forest when he was only 15 and at this young age was already a brave fighter against the devouring Nazi beast. The dangers of death or hunger were often part of his life.

A survivor (of the Holocaust), he arrived in Eretz Yisrael in 1946 on the illegal immigrant ship “Josiah Wedgwood”. He was not alone, surrounded by a new family, the family of HaShomer HaTzair ^[1]. One spring day during the War of Liberation, I met Yashika the Palmachnik^[2], strong and courageous, tall and handsome and who within a short time had already made history in the country.

In the fervor of youth he had begun to realize his child-hood dream. He was a member of Kibbutz Gat and after that, of Kibbutz Yakum. He worked in agriculture, as a construction worker and finally joined a group to create a settlement in Gal-On.

At the beginning of the War of Liberation he joined the Palmach. During the period of the British Mandate for Palestine, he served in the Harel Brigade, filling responsible roles in the battles. He excelled in devotion and calmness.

Yaacov Peker

He was transferred to the Nachalat Yitzchak cemetery on 31.8.1949. May his memory be blessed!

Yaacov Riefler, son of Tzvi and Rivka (Perlman), fell at Hulata.

Yaacov, the beautiful, dark-eyed child, grew up in a hut in the Makhlul Neighborhood, opposite the sea of Tel Aviv.

From his youth he loved the sea and was already a good swimmer. At the age of 12 he joined the Machaneh-Olim^[1] Youth Movement and from 1949 was part of a youth group at Kibbutz Hulata. At the age of 16 he worked as a fisherman and stood out in his work. No natural catastrophes could stop him along his way. The same stormy character that he exhibited and his courage rendered him undaunted and fearless of endangering himself while working on the eastern shore of Lake Huleh, right in front of the Syrians, to catch fish, to establish the fact of our existence in the lake and also [to participate] in the night patrols and in ambushes.

While in the Nachal^[1] he joined an Officers' Course.

And here –suddenly-Yaacov is no more…as he went out at night in the vineyards of Hulata; a bullet hit him and severed the thread of his life… May his memory be blessed!

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Meir, son of Yosef and Fania Machtey received a pioneering education at home and in the Machaneh-Olim Youth Movement. His father Yosef was badly wounded in 1929, while defending Jewish property and his son continued devotedly in the Haganah^[1].

On the eve of the War of Liberation, he participated with his father in defending Tel Aviv, and he was only 17 years old. In February 1948 he went with a Palmach training group to the front at Hulata. He completed a machine gunner's course and took part in liberating the Galilee area. After Tiberias was liberated, the Palmach division left for Mt. Knaan.

In one of his letters to his parents, he talked with praise about the heroic behavior of his comrade in battle, who was mortally wounded and requested his friends to continue the battle and to win. On one of the beautiful spring nights Yosef and Fania were sitting listening to the Haganah radio broadcast, when the conquest of Safed was announced. On that terrible night, 1^st Iyar, 5708 (1948), Meirka fell with a machine gun in his hand, in the battle to liberate Safed.

He was buried in the Safed Cemetery

May his memory be blessed!

Meir Machtey		Yaacov Riefler

Asaf Shachnai Born 27th Kislev 5689 (1928) Fell 26th Kislev 5708 (1947)

He was 19 years old when he fell, and I still cannot believe it, but it is a bitter fact. He was handsome and goodhearted; devoted to his home and to Sura (a girlfriend?). He was a pleasant and refined person, the live wire among his friends. He did not like to stand out but always did. He was a member of the Machanot Olim youth group, a member of the Hachsharat Maoz^[1] unit. The house was always full with friends, who did not move without Asaf. He was not afraid of anything or anyone. In his short life he was arrested twice in Haifa. He also remained in Latrun on the “Black Sabbath” with all the members of Bet Ha'Arava.

I could say so many things about him, but he did not like people talking about him too much, When one of the Negev commanders told his father when he visited that Asaf is a man of the future, Asaf asked him not to exaggerate, saying as always: “There are many like me”. And he was right, too. There is no need to write or say a lot, everyone knows how great is the pain of the parents, but the acknowledgement that our sons fell for a purpose, for which we strove and dreamt about for many years - that encourages us. Once Asaf left home I was ready for anything, and on his leave I always tried to be close by and give him the maximum. I always thought: Maybe this is the last time.

Asaf was the first to fall in the Negev. We will remember his simplicity, the truth in his simplicity and his strong heroism that was revealed to us.

Asaf fell in the battle for the Negev. Sometime later, when the IDF fought the Egyptian infiltrators in the Western Negev, this operation was called “Operation Asaf”, in memory of Asaf Shachnai, the young officer who fell heroically in the Negev battles.

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Sarah Gershenovitz

When she came to Eretz Yisrael in 1927, I found that my evaluation was not false. On the contrary, externally she showed majesty, nobility and wisdom. Her love and desire to help others, her love of the country and her people, was revealed right upon her arrival and first steps in Eretz Yisrael.

I remember well her behavior in the riots of 1929, 1933, 1936-39 and in the days of the World War when her sons left home to defend Eretz Yisrael or to enlist to the army. She had to stay home with her married daughters and grandchildren.

She knew well to hold back her simple emotions, was always proud of the actions of her sons for the homeland, and I had the feeling that she was sorry that she was not younger and couldn't join the ranks of the Hagana^[1] together with her children.

During the siege of Jerusalem in the days of the War of Liberation, she was already more than 70 and this did not bother her to go out to the street after every shelling, to see if there were wounded who needed help.

I remember her reaction when our dear son Asaf, of blessed memory fell. She asked us not to weep, for one does not cry over the death of heroes, and we should try and overcome our mental suffering.

Sara'keh Gershenovitz (as she was called in her hometown) is a classic type of Jewish mother about whom the greatest of our poets have written.

It is possible to write much about this woman of valor, Sara Gershenovitz; about her confronting difficult trials which she always knew how to overcome, without those around her being aware. May her memory be blessed.

*

My mother Sarah Gershenovitz was born in Steibtz to the Rozovsky family, a well-to-do family, with many children, and with a progressive Jewish tradition. Some of the family left Russia and moved to England and the US, some remained in Great Russia. At the end of the First World War, when Steibtz passed into the hands of the Polish government, only my mother and her seven children remained there.

After my father died, she endured many difficult and bitter days.

When I travelled to Eretz Yisrael in 1922, I paved the way for the rest of my family, and over time they arrived in the country. My mother adjusted relatively quickly to the conditions of the country. Her house was open. All those who entered, loved her and honored her. She helped all who asked for her help. She was proud of her children, who played important roles in defending the country. It was impossible to hide anything from her. She read the newspaper, knew what was going on her, and was only sorry that she could not participate in an active way in defending the country because of her advanced age.

She felt good in the company of her children and grandchildren, and derived great pleasure and respect; an attractive woman with a good heart and a delicate soul. Her death came as a surprise. She was 75 when she died.

Translator's footnote

1. Haganah: Jewish paramilitary organization in the British Mandate of Palestine (1921–48) (Wikipedia) Return

(Wounded on 1st Nissan 5705, 15th March 1945, and died from his wounds on Thursday, 20^th Nissan 5705, 22^nd March 1945.)

He volunteered to patrol twice in one week. The third time, on the 15^th of March, he was chosen to participate in a patrol and in that operation a catastrophe befell him and us. When he returned from the patrol, he was shot in the leg by mistake, operated on several times, fought death for several days in the military hospital in Rovneh, and on the 22^nd of March 1945, several hours after his leg was amputated, he died following a heart attack.

He was 26 years old at his death, with a rich Zionist past. He began his Zionist activities in his town of Stolpce. He travelled all around Poland and did as much as he could for Eretz Yisrael. With the outbreak of war, he secretly crossed the border twice to bring the light of Zion to the youth, and in the cellars and caves, in 1939-1940, preached Zionism and making aliyah^[1] to Eretz Yisrael. Finally he succeeded in escaping from Poland, which was stained with Jewish blood, wandered around Russia, Japan and India and succeeded in reaching Eretz Yisrael. He did not live there even one day, but enlisted immediately in the battalions.

He absorbed within himself all the best of Polish Jewry.

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Tanchum Rabinovitz

There are Jewish boys who were born in the small towns, who were created by G-d to be active in the world and capitals of different countries, from place to place. Tanchum, a native of little Stolpce, was like this, and was prophesized to have a brilliant future in the national movement, for he was very successful wherever he was sent to disseminate the Zionist law – in all the corners of the whole country of Poland.

He aspired to acquire education through diligent study which was unparalleled and he had patience to sit and delve into the problems of the world, starting from the history of the revolt in Ireland and up to the theories of Marx and Engels. He took an interest in numbers of import and export from Soviet Russia, to the history of the life of the famous singer Caruso, but was never distracted from the primary goal before him and toward which he strode as a small child and until his last day, in the war to liberate the nation and Eretz Yisrael.

He was strong in body and courageous, with great will and exemplary heroism. Two facts that I present here provide evidence that he knew no fear and nothing could stand in the way of his wishes.

In 1940 he was sent twice to the Russian-occupied area, in an important role. A “trip” like this was not only uncomfortable and hard-suffering, but also life-threatening. He fulfilled his role responsibly and with devotion, and while he was admired and praised, he remained humble and modest. He hated to “show off” and called the praise and adoration “extreme”. In February 1941, he did something which served as an example to hundreds of illegal immigrants, and although not all following him succeeded, we must note that many saved their lives thanks to his heroism, sacrifice and great will.

In Soviet Russia there is a “law” negating the right of free travel from town to town, because of the dangers awaiting a stranger travelling of his own accord in Great Russia, who may fall into the hands of the NKVD, and be sent north. Every foreign citizen who has a visa, must travel under the auspices of the “Intourist”. Tanchum did not have dollars and the money that his friends had was enough to cover the travel expenses from Vilna to Japan. We were all worried as to his fate. But he did not show any worry, and two days after receiving the visa, seeing that he could not obtain the foreign currency, he got up and with a smile on his face, announced that he was leaving on his own …he took several hundred rubles and a small bag of provisions. And the way? It is not at all short, for the way from Vilna to Vladivostok is…. 11,000 kilometers.

The rumor of his departure spread amongst the refugees like an arrow and all the paupers who did not have foreign currency began to appear at this writer's house, in order to find out Tanchum's fate. These were three full anxious weeks, but punctually and meticulously he sent telegrams to his two friends…

He was arrested on the way three times and succeeded to escape the claws of the NKVD, and then arrived at Vladivostok – where he encountered great difficulties and overcame them successfully with the help of the Japanese consul, who held a conversation with him in… Japanese, and won him over.

When this author received the telegram and the good news which he shared with many, it unleashed a flow of emigration of all the indigent, and many of them succeeded. Tanchum was the guide and the pioneer.

One moonlit night, in Kobe which is in Japan, three people walked from the main post office: The author of Hamashkif in India; Tanchum of blessed memory, and this writer. A tall chubby German “attached” himself to us and started to revile and insult the People of Israel. Even though it was midnight and it wouldn't have been difficult to overcome the despicable Nazi, although he was accompanied by a Japanese, it seems that he was involved in espionage…at first we decided to ignore him so that our response didn't cause more troubles for the families of the refugees, but finally…I concentrated all my strength in my fists and “hit” my first blows to one of the representatives of Hitler in the Axis countries… what I started… Tanchum finished…and he knew the job. At the end of the incident, when the Nazi was lying in a puddle of blood in the middle of the road, Tanchum approached me, shook my hand and said “Menachem - as well as the feelings of deep friendship, you have now acquired, with your behavior, much respect for yourself”.

Tanchum had a look of splendor, a pleasant man, well-liked. It was not for no reason that he had a reputation as a “gentleman par excellence” to all

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groups while still in Europe and afterwards in Japan. He was a good speaker: his lectures were full of content and new ideas. The reasons are convincing, his voice and his gestures were quiet and calm. He was intelligent and would “deal” “with his enemies cleverly and tactfully. In Japan we chose especially him as our representative in the Eretz-Yisrael Office, and it must be mentioned, his efforts were crowned with much success. He dressed modestly, cleanly and nicely, and he would compare his old coat from his life in Lithuania, to that of Akakiy Akakievitch, Gogol's hero in his book – “The Cloak” (“Shinel”) and he would promise me that until he would be in the “liberated” country, he would not change his coat. He was very generous and did not want to recognize the value of money. He despised the saying: “All the organs depend on the heart and the heart on the pocket” and if he wanted to mention a beggar in the society, he would call him by the derogatory Kopieyechnik.

He left India at the first opportunity and hurried to Eretz Yisrael, where he had lived in spirit from his days of childhood.

We met again in an army camp…at Sarafand, both of us in army uniforms…we embraced one another. Also in the army there were differences of opinion between us - whereas this writer believed in Britain and expected justice in Israel, Tanchum forecast an anti-Zionistic policy and would explain and give reasons for Britain's evil intentions. However, he was dying to get to the front in order to show heroism and not shirk responsibilities and remain in the back lines, while his friends and pupils were on the battlefield.

Our last conversation in Rome and his last letter to me from the front to the hospital in Cassarata, proved to me that he was full of pessimism and feared for his life…he also asked me to take care of his friends who had remained in the town of his birthplace, Yasha our friend and the rest of his relatives that would remain alive. Ten days after receiving this letter the painful and shocking news came to me – Tanchum is no more – tragically – by a stray bullet from the rifle of an army officer– this handsome and noble-minded Jew fell. The wick of life of a young man with many unique qualities, who was destined to work and to be of much use to his people and his land in every place, was extinguished.

Zionist Youth on La”g B'Omer in the forest Sitting from the right, Row A: Lipkovsky, Raya Gurevitz, Leah Goldberg, Khaitovitz, Aventzik, Kayla Rozovsky, Tziporah Zochovitzky, Bella Pilshtchik, Gittel Menaker, Nachama Axelrod, Zelda Tunik, Hinda Tsartsas, Aharon Reiser, Lolik Menaker, Aharon Melamed, Russak, Beyla Menaker. Sitting from right, Row B: Eichel, Gershon Goldberg, Henia Tunik, Pesiya Aginsky, Shalom Velochvinsky, Sonia Proshtzitzky, Rachel Eshkovitz, Yehudit, Esterkin, Chava Milcenzon, Hillel Akun, Leibel Epshstein, Beyla Gorfinkel[2], Axelrod, Chana Lungin, Leibel Palay, Nachman Tunik, Yentl Gurvitz, Sarah Goldberg, Sonia Lungin, Nachama Gorfinkel, Matitiyahu Lungin. Standing from the right Row C: Gina Tunik, Eshka Mazeh, Esther Menaker, Avraham Reiser, Chana Mazeh, Patashnik, Luba Aginsky, Noach Tunik, Moshe Esterkin, Chava Milcenzon, Hillel Akin, Leibel Epshtein, Beyla Gurfinkel[2], Pesiya Khakhurim, Sonia Aginsky, Mordechai Shmukler. Standing from the right, Row D: Itka Pilshtchik, Henia Auskerin, Zissel Tunik, Adelah Esterkin, Esther Tunik, Chaya Moltschadsky, Fania Gurevitz, Rachel Kushnir, Dvorah Berstein, Pesiya Epstein, Hinda Narotzky, Yaacov Lusterman, Hershel Dvorestzky, Hershel Melamed, Tzvi Tsartzas, Mordechai Gershonovitz, Raizel Mazeh, Chana Reznik, Sarah Tunik, Sarah Baruchansky Standing from right, Row E: Raphael Reiser, Yisrael Machtey, Azriel Tunik, Yisrael Goldberg, Moshe Menaker, Reuven Zochovitzky, Shmuel Iskov, Yaacov-Shlomo Tunik.

The Germans annihilated the Jews of Steibtz, among them children and youth. Very few remained alive. Meilachka (nickname AB) was among the only ones who went through the war with the partisans, came to Eretz Yisrael, participated in the War of Liberation, and died from cancer as he was about to start his life. This is especially a tragedy as some of the only ones who remained [from their families] after their great suffering were cut down in their anonymity and there is no one to remember them. Aged 16, Meilachka was sent to forced labor. The townspeople went to work outside the town and would return to the closed ghetto, sharing a slice of bread among themselves. Whole families of 20 people were closely packed into one room, worrying about the family and the shared suffering of a bitter fate. Meilachka was sent to forced labor in Baronowitz. He was separated from his parents, siblings and relatives.

Elimelech Machtey

Terrible rumors came from Steibtz, that youth, old people, babies and children, friends and relatives were being killed daily.

A Christian railway worker told him that after Yom Kippur, there was a huge massacre, where thousands of Steibtz Jews were killed. Meilachka was worried about his family.

His older brother Yisrael succeeded in escaping to the forest and became a fighting partisan. One day out of the blue Yisrael arrived at the forced labor camp of the Baronowitz ghetto dressed as a peasant. He succeeded in organizing the escape of several of the Steibtz citizens. Meilachka and a group of youths from Steibtz fled from the Baronowitz camp.

By chance – he was separated from the group. After searching and much hesitation, he found himself in the Swierzne camp.

After the escape from the ghetto with all the inhabitants of Swierzne he reached the partisans camp. There he began the hard life of a partisan. Thin and weak, he stood on guard duty with a rifle, in life-threatening situations. In fights with the German soldiers he strengthened himself and became accustomed to duties. His brothers^[1] were killed in the forest by German bullets and he came through all the dangers. With the entry of the Red Army into Steibtz, he returned to his town Steibtz.

Only a few had left their hiding places. Dressed in shabby and torn clothes, Jews walked through the destroyed town with no place to sleep. The Gentile townspeople walked around in the clothes of Jews who had been killed.

A number of Jews gathered at the mass grave outside the town where they poured out their hearts. This is where three thousand Jews of Steibtz were buried. The Gentiles looked upon them as though they had returned from the next world. You are still alive – a Gentile neighbor acquaintance would ask upon meeting them.

With several tens of Jews from Steibtz who had remained alive, Meilachka took a walking stick and went to Lodz, where many of the survivors were concentrated. There too, there seemed to be no future and he moved with many other Jews via Austria and Italy, setting his sight in the direction of Eretz Yisrael. Here in Israel, on the eve of the War of Liberation he found his place, learned the trade of a metalworker and worked in construction.

The days are the eve of the War of Liberation. The Hagana is enlisting youth from among the partisans. Meilachka enlists and participates in the most dangerous places. He is in the besieged [settlement of] Ben Shemen.

One of the evenings when the streets of Tel Aviv were full of people, although Arab snipers were firing on the city, I met Meilachka in the crowd next to Carmel Street. He was unshaven and tired, and said: “Tonight I am taking part in the Occupation of Jaffa. Who knows if we will remain alive? I am 20 years old and for 4 years I have had no rest. If I fall remember my name some time”. In the War of Liberation he was active on various fronts: freeing the Negev, freeing the way to Jerusalem and, the Nachshon Operation^[2].

The war ended and the young man entered life with much energy, established a bakery cooperative, and was successful. But then he took ill with terminal cancer. I visited him at Beilinson Hospital, where he lay for many months. He sobbed to his friends: “Save me, I want to live”. For a month he lay in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, fighting the angel of death. He struggled, was defeated and was plucked in the essence of his youth.

May his memory be blessed!

Return to Steibtz

In 1944 the German army continued to retreat. Every morning we would listen to the news announcements telling us that the Soviet army was advancing and daily conquering vast territories, and towns that we knew by name were being captured in our area. At the beginning of July, Belarus and Polesia had been liberated.

Secretly we announced that we were leaving the forest and began marching towards the cities. We left the thick forests, the swamps of Polesia, where we had lived for years of fear but also where we had friends. There we already knew every track and tree, every stone that we had used as a pillow and every stream that had quenched our thirst. There we had gone through days of suffering and disappointments and sometimes also days of happiness and brotherhood. Here the hand of the bitter enemy had not reached us; the forest was a refuge for us from sorrow and the pursuing enemy.

Actually in the days of wandering and hardship, more than once one yearned to eat at a table, to be at a family party and to find sleep and peace as a human being, and here, the day that which we wished for – had arrived.

We leave the forest, return to the town. We pass by places of settlement with a feeling that the enemy is no longer lurking on the road and won't surprise us suddenly. The forest has finished its role.

We pass from a way of life of irregularity, from life in the forest, wandering, forced to act according to commands and directives - we stand again to return to accepted norms. On the other hand the feeling of abandonment has increased the feeling of orphan-hood and bereavement with the acknowledgement: “I, where shall I go?^[1]”.

In daylight we arrived at the city of Lekovitz (present day Lyakhavichy A.B) In the streets we met people from the army and partisans. The government had begun a new order of life. Here and there we found acquaintances. Suggestions were made for different regulations there. I, my brother Aharon and several others from our town were in a hurry to return to Steibtz. Even two years ago, we had forecast its destruction and the annihilation of all the townspeople. Even so, then there was the strong desire to visit and to look around. Surreptitiously, doubts gnawed us: Perhaps, in spite of all…

To meet and to question the people there. To listen to the words of more candid people. To verify how the Jews of Steibtz went on their last journey. Where is their resting place and where are the boundaries of the burial place of all the Jews of Steibtz?

I arrived at the town several hours before sunset. I found the train station and the grand buildings standing strong and upright as if nothing had happened over time. The railway line was useable - over the last few years, carriages packed with an army and its equipment had passed through on the way to the battlefields and returned with carriages full of critically wounded and disappointed soldiers. In the town the signs of destruction and ruin were visible and prominent. These were the first days of its liberation. Jews, residents of the place returned to the town of their previous dwelling. In the spacious house of Idel-David Kopilovitz, nothing was touched. In the first days people walked around expecting to meet friends, they hugged old acquaintances, and roamed the streets with a feeling of no tomorrow. Hope filled their hearts and they stuck with those who had remained alive. In their closeness the feelings of grief of orphaned brothers arose and raged.

Azriel Tunick together with a group of women: Nechama, her daughter Chana Pilshchik and the three Kaplan sisters, Dvorah, Esther and Zahava, who had hidden and lived with a gentile woman near the village of Zadovaria, were the first arrivals to the town. Azriel as usual tried to encourage those who arrived and to guide them how to organize their way in the new situation.

*

Not all those who managed to escape to the forests remained alive. Some fell in the forests during battle. Sometimes they would be buried honorably as heroes. There were others who fell and their grave is unknown. Of those who survived, not all returned to their hometown, but immediately left the forest and joined the fighters on the front. Many volunteered themselves there from despair and disappointment, for the feelings of revenge beat strongly in their hearts. Their desire was to see the final defeat of the empire of the Reich. Although Hitler and his army had been defeated, not all the townspeople of Steibtz had won this consolation.

And these are the partisans who fell afterwards on the Front:

Abraham Shkolnik son of Tanchum; three brothers, sons of Baruch Ezer Akun: Hillel, Simcha-Zalman and Berl.

*

On the first evening of my arrival in Steibtz we ate dinner together. In the same house we were honored with a place to sleep and stretched out on the floor. In the morning we went out to the street where we had lived, to see the Jewish environs, to be dumbfounded at the place where our house had stood. The houses were mostly burnt down; obliterated as if they had never been. The courtyards were full of weeds and wild plants. It was completely impossible to recognize where they houses had stood, the only remnants were stone stairs which the fire had not destroyed.

We went to look for the place of the mass grave, where most of the Jews of Steibtz had been buried. The grave was not signposted or fenced off and was located a distance of a number of kilometers behind the city. The area and all that surrounded it – fine sand, blowing away in the wind. No greenery or plants could grow there. We talked with the peasants in the area to find out details from them and any knowledge of the annihilation and its implementation. They answered us to some degree. They gave details with some reservations. Over a few days there was activity to set up a fence and memorial stone. Each donated his part for this enterprise. The initiatives of Getzel Reiser, Dov Shraga Berkovitz and Zeev Getler are to be especially commended. They invested a lot of effort to create a memorial there.

As usual, the order of life necessitates creation of a social-family framework and material existence. And relating to family life, of course after the Holocaust there was inequality in finding a partner, especially because of the lack of women, to whom that period had been several times crueler. Their escape from the ghetto and absorption in the forests was seven-fold more difficult.

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In Steibtz there was a phenomenon of groups of people who organized and established a collective style of life, lived in one house, ate at one table and managed a communal life, from the feeling of friendly “closeness”. In general, they had, modest requirements, they didn't aspire to great things. They had a shared social life. They met often together in the spirit of friendliness and goodwill. Life in the town flowed in its course and received its special form in the spirit of the times.

Unexpected happenings obliged the public to establish a small organization in order to deal with daily matters. One of the women survivors returned and lived in Steibtz. In the meanwhile she got very sick and was hospitalized. It was felt that there was lack of organization in arranging treatment for those hospitalized and needing help. This case gave the first push for action. The first women volunteers were immediately mobilized: Dvorah Kaplan, Nechama Reiser, Chana Hankin, Rivka Kanterovitz; and on their initiative they began a campaign for donations. Every household received them well, each gave according to its capabilities. The place of meeting for public activities was the previous house of Yaakov Savin, in Shpitalna Street. The second meeting place was the house of Berl Feiveh Berkovitz in the center of the town, opposite the white church. These houses and others were wide open for every survivor, where they met and exchanged opinions of various topics.

Various actions were undertaken to return Jewish property which had remained in the hands of Gentiles. The group was especially excited when they discovered that Torah scrolls and other holy objects had been left with the Gentiles. Activities of surveillance, detective work and connections with the government authorities needed to be carried out and David Slutzky was especially active in this area.

After some time, a general assembly met in the house of Berl Feiveh and it was decided to choose a committee to deal with daily matters. Getzel Reiser and Chana Hankin were requested to organize a Hanukkah party that took place also in the same house. At the party, there was made a mood of spiritual uplifting, they sang partisan songs and tried to lessen the atmosphere of mourning, but they couldn't. Many wept over the destruction of the town. At the same time, a sum of 1500 rubles was collected, for buying Torah scrolls back from the gentiles.

During the Yamim Noraim^[2] (10 Days of Repentance) there was public prayer. The ritual slaughterer from Sverznie, R' Aharon Bokov, who served at that time as the community Rabbi, served also as the prayer leader.

But tragedies struck us, each different. Nachum Kanterovitz , the son-in-law of Azriel Roditzky died. During the days of the war he had hidden with peasants in Krugalicia (place not identified A.B.). He was concealed in the basement and lived there in difficult conditions which caused his body to become generally weakened. After the liberation he walked around like a shadow and in addition, for lack of efficient medical treatment, his life flickered and died.

Bringing him to a Jewish grave needed the care of volunteers of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society) from people who had never dealt with a deceased person. The first to volunteer were Eliezer Reiser (may he rest in peace), Getzel Reiser, Berl Feiveh Berkovitz (may they live a long life) and others.

After some time a second tragedy occurred. Daniel Horenkreig. while travelling to Minsk for his work, met his death in a traffic accident. This man was in his youth, in full strength and at his best. This news depressed all the people of the area and on their initiative, he was buried in the Steibtz Jewish cemetery.

Zelik Kanterovitz and Mordechai Mirski in the Steibtz Cemetery in 1956

The war still in full force…Communication with the outside world was still nonexistent. Life was mainly centered around the area of settlement. Various unauthorized reports arrived, whispered from mouth to ear, that Jews are leaving secretly to Eretz Yisrael from Romania. These rumors encouraged people to leave their location in the east and move westerly to a place where there was hope of connecting with other Jews in the world. At that time the intergovernmental Russian-Polish committee began to act. Its aim was to enable those citizens who had lived in the area of Poland until the beginning of the war, if they wished to return to the areas of new Poland.

Hankin Dassia and his family were the first amongst the Jews who tried their luck in this way. With no problems they managed to

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organise all the formalities, to receive the confirmations from the authorities and the required certificates and were permitted to leave Steibtz. For the Jews here, this was an unusual event, arousing excitement. All came to take their leave of this family and wish them a successful journey.

I too decided to go the same way. Everything went smoothly. My Christian friends were those who helped me a lot with this. I was promised help during the journey, fulfillment of all the arrangements. I needed an authorization of release from my place of work. For the first time I was met by a refusal. One day we, the Jewish workers, were called to the manager's room for a friendly discussion. Those who gathered on the same status were all Jewish except for the chairman, named Zakarov, with a rank of major and who served in the Security Service. He spoke to us with words of explanation and persuasion: “Why do you want to leave this regime and go to far-away materialistic countries? Now the government is giving you full backing, you have responsible jobs. The academic institutions, high ranking jobs and superior positions are open to you.”

I admit, I was influenced by the charm of his personality and the sincerity of his words and they were heard with much pleasure. I was requested to reply to him, “We thank and are grateful for all the good and encouragement from the government. Only one thing works today in the subconscious of every Jew. In this place where we saw life, we were educated, we studied Torah. Here we grew up within family life and within it we created our type of culture. But after the terrible Holocaust, where we lost our dearest ones and only a very few of us were spared, we returned to the town of our birth and we found a city of graves. Every path that we walk on is stained with the blood of our brothers, every stone in the wall cries out to us”.

These things were said in deep pain. It seemed that they also touched his heart. In submission he accepted my words with silence and understanding, without agreeing. Thus we separated. He continued to reply with empty words and I continued with my preparations to leave in secret. At the beginning of March 1945, one of the Sundays of the month, at five in the morning, I took my baggage and left for the train. Some of my friends came to say goodbye and also my Christian landlord Klimovitz. On Saturday evening, they honored me with accordion tunes played by their son Seriyochka, gave me provisions for the journey and we parted as good friends. I was determined in my decision to travel, at any cost.

I arrived in destroyed Warsaw and from there to Lodz. After some time the rest of the Jews of Steibtz arrived there. In the end, all received permission to travel to wherever they wished. The one and only Jew who remained, until this very day, is Zelik Kanterovitz. He lost all his family, despairing and depressed he has remained in Steibtz, lonely and forsaken.

We passed through cities and countries: Krakow, Budapest, Austria, and Italy. In each place we stayed only as long as we had to. In December 1945 I arrived at the shores of Israel in the illegal immigrant ship “Enzo Sereni”.

This was also the route of the Shaarit HaPlita^[3] (the survivors - those who remained after the Holocaust) from Steibtz who live today in Israel.

Shkolna Street

Honorable President of the State,

As one of the elders of Steibtz, I was involved from the beginning of my life in all branches of its life and active in all its social, financial and state institutions, until the grim reaper arrived and in one fell swoop, all the Jews were slaughtered.

Mr. President, I bring you the blessing of our townspeople, the remnants of Steibtz, on your being chosen for this exalted position.

The deep sentiment that you have for the town of your youth, which you emphasize and reiterate in several of your literary works on Steibtz, gave us the courage to request you to receive us for this meeting, in order to express our personal congratulations.

The final death throes of our town were harsh. It was not destroyed all at once. Before the physical destruction – there was the spiritual destruction. The 17^th of September 1939 signifies the beginning of destruction of all the values, which had been nurtured throughout our existence and especially during the last decades, despite all the difficulties that stood in our way. Our spiritual and cultural institutions were closed and destroyed.

The Steibtz that was, no longer exists. This is the town that on one hand had a large group of free professions: doctors, lawyers and pharmacists: and on the other hand, two Rabbis great in Torah, R' Yochanan Mirski – the Rabbi of Zevlodova near Bialystok, and R' Yehoshua Lieberman – the last Rabbi of Steibtz. All of these could have been relegated to oblivion if not for you, Mr. President, who in your notes and stories has given a faithful description of the effervescent life of the town and commemoration of its personalities and townspeople. You have entered “My Steibtz” into the Shrine of Hebrew and Yiddish Literature, by translating your works.

For this regard for the town of your youth and for the commemoration stone that you have laid down, we – the remnants of the town of Steibtz - are grateful to you.

At the end of my words I wish to add several personal remarks.

I am not gifted with poetic abilities to describe that quivering of my soul that I felt while listening to your swearing-in ceremony and to your inaugural speech. I will now use your maxim in “My Steibtz” – “What I loved in my youth will be forever”.

For the happiest years of our lives, childhood and youth, we spent together on the benches of learning and in games. Together we moved from teacher to teacher and in the last three zmanim^[2] we studied with the parush^[3] from Koidanov. We were just the two of us in the room and our friendship ties were so close, that I do not remember if either of us have had any other friends. This friendship has remained in my opinion, forever.

Keren Kayemet (Jewish National Fund) certificate Presented to President Zalman Shazar from the Steibtz survivors

[Page 186]

that you attain the desire and love of your brethren in Israel and in the Diaspora, and above all, I wish you good health and long life.

I am happy to see you all and meet you here. I thank you from the depths of my heart, for coming to congratulate me on my election as President of the State of Israel.

Make yourselves at home here, exactly as in your own homes. This home will always be open to you as state guests and together with that, as sons of one town, in which we are all partners ever since childhood.

The congregation of Steibtz was completely destroyed --wiped from the face of the earth and is no longer. With pride and honor I will remember the place where I grew up and received my first education.

I remember now those days, when I was chosen to be a delegate to the first Zionist Congress in Minsk. And perhaps the trust that was given to me then, was one of the factors now, when I have been bestowed the honorable mission of great responsibility to stand at the head of the nation, as President of the State.

At this opportunity, I wish to remind you and dear Mr. Khinitz, editor of the Steibtz Book and to request that you hasten to publish the book, so as to give a memory to our town, which was destroyed together with its rabbis, businessmen, workers and important personages, for all are loved and dear to me.

The committee of former Steibtz townspeople on their visit to the President of the State of Israel Standing from the right: Mendel Machtey, Eliezer Melamed, Yitzchak Tunik, Tzvi Stolovitzki, Moshe Borsuk, Dov Ben Yerucham, Arieh Milcenzon, Noach Borsuk, and President Zalman Shazar, Mordechai Machtey, Getzel Reiser, Yechezkel Ben Moshe, Nachum Khinitz, Nechama Reiser

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