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[Page XV]
This seventh translation, in a series, provides a memorial to a shtetl that is in the ambit of that corner of modern day Southeastern Poland, centered on the city of Zamość. It lies in that politically ambiguous corner of Eastern Europe, where the borders between the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany and Russia were indistinct, and where a Jew could reside in ‘Galicia,’ but be in any one of several nation states. Tomaszow Lubelski goes by a double name, so that it is not confused with perhaps a half dozen other Polish cities, that have the same name.
This compendium about the shtetl of Tomaszow Lubelski offers us a counterpoint to some of the books we have seen to date. It also parallels the prior translation of the Cieszanow Memorial Book in depicting a place that was not unusually distinguished, even though it boasted its own share of outstanding Jewish sages, scholars, and men revered for their holiness and piety. Indeed, one of the most prominent of the latter day Chief Rabbis of Tomaszow came there from Cieszanow.
The degree, to which the Tomaszow Lubelski record complements the Cieszanow record, lends credence to very important trends in the Jewish history of those times. Here too, we are told that, even in this seeming backwater, the winds of modernity could not be kept out. Again, there is a testament to younger, and more enlightened age cohorts, as they give battle to their more recalcitrant elders, unwilling to let go of traditions, forged over centuries of placid and relatively static agrarian life, inexorably being swept away by the forces of industrialization and political upheaval. This is a very valuable record, because the tensions, in shtetl life that they describe, are often overlooked, or not documented at all, in conventional histories. Accordingly, an unrealistically idealized view of the shtetl often emerges, that does not reflect the rough and tumble contest of ideas that was taking place in Eastern Europe in the century prior to, and leading up to, the Holocaust.
While, again, it is true that the tragic outcome of the telling is known in advance, the record is enriched by the endeavor of these writers, to tell this tale from their own unique perspective.
It is also auspicious that this work be completed in the 60th Anniversary year of the establishment of the State of Israel. It is to this event, and the implicit rebirth that the Anniversary heralds, that this work is dedicated
I am indebted to Tomasz Panczyk, late of Rohnert Park, California, and now of Warsaw, Poland, and Leon Szyfer of Vancouver Canada, for their assistance in assuring that my rendition of Polish names and places, transliterated from Yiddish into English, were done correctly. I am also grateful to my wife's cousin, Oskar Kleinberg of Toronto, Canada, for his assistance with the several occurrences of German in the text. Finally, my thanks also go to Yeshaya Metal, the reference desk librarian at YIVO in New York City, who, as usual, was ever ready with a suitable insight regarding the occasional esoteric word that would surface from time to time.
Fall 2008
Finally, after three sabbatical cycles (e.g. 21 years) since the destruction of Tomaszow, we bring before you the result of ten years of work and strenuousness: here it is, this book, which must serve as memorial and grave marker for the Jewish community in Tomaszow-Lubelski that was cut down.
After the start of the decade of the 1950s, when the survivors of Tomaszow had more-or-less begun to consolidate, and a little bit at a time began to reconstruct their lives in Israel as in America, the compelling demand to permanently memorialize our city was brought out at annual memorial observances by many landsleit, as was the case with what many other landsmanschaften had done – and in a manner that was most appropriate for The People of the Book – by publishing a Yizkor Book.
The Book and the Sword – both descended on the world – let it be that the people – so brutally cut down by the sword and fire – be committed to eternal memory in a book – in a ‘Book-Monument’ written by those who escaped the sword, those smoking embers rescued from the fire, and let the shame of the murderers also be placed on a permanent, eternal record there, for condemnation and obloquy for all time to come.
It was not easy to assemble the material, and simple testimony to this is given by the fact that the work to do this went on for over 10 years, and it is only thanks to the patience and forbearance of a few individuals, that the undertaking was, in the end, crowned with success, and it is you – the men and women of Tomaszow, that must now provide the evaluation and assessment of this piece of work.
We, representing the Yizkor Book Committee, know that this book could have come out better, but the responsibility for this is not entirely ours – regrettably, many people from Tomaszow were derelict in their responsibility and were either late in providing their memoirs for this Yizkor Book, or failed to do so altogether, which could have enriched the content and the scope of the documentary record that is being placed before you, this, despite the fact that we appealed many times in the press and through special circulars – but the greatest blame can be placed on the scarcity of time, the harried state of mind, and the dispersion [of our townsfolk] – those who survived and remained alive have to work very hard in order to ‘make a living,’ and so that all our enemies should suffer, also to rebuild new homes, a new future for the Tomaszow communities in Israel and America, and this by itself is a revenge against those who would have wanted to erase the very memory of the Jewish people, so that, God Forbid, there remain no memory of the name of the Jewish people, and let that be an expiation for us and for you as well.
The Jewish settlement in Tomaszow-Lubelski existed for hundreds of years. With their blood, sweat and hard labor, our forbears built up the city for the benefit of the general populace, and especially developed institutions for the Jewish communities, and despite all the predations, decrees and pogroms, during the course of generations, carried on a decent Jewish life, loyal to the authorities and committed to one's neighbor.
The Jewish population of Tomaszow which consisted of poor laborers who did heavy work, small business people, and middle-class merchants, each in his own way, dedicated his assets and worth, his intelligence and energy to build institutions for the benefit of the general populace and to develop good generations of Jews, suffused with the love of Torah and love of the Jewish people, with love and commitment to the Land of Israel, possessed of good deeds, and a gentleness with good Jewish enlightenment and a sense of responsibility for the general welfare, to construct the society with a full-blooded and healthy and vibrant Jewish life.
Jewish Tomaszow in all of its cohorts and groups, could be proud of the fact that among their ranks could be found decent people, idealists and activists, who put the interests of the community ahead of their own. The believed in their work for the community, which they put first, and approached with the full commitment of their soul.
Tomaszow had the privilege of providing great sons to the rest of Jewry, great Torah authorities, world renown personalities whose influence reached far, far away, well beyond its borders, well beyond the borders of Poland, and Europe.
Tomaszow possessed a golden, idealistic youth, full of seething life, and a genuine Jewish pride. With their hard-earned impoverished groschen, the Tomaszow Jews built a beautiful synagogue, houses of study, and other wondrous institutions of education, charity and good will, and everything – the institutions and their builders, the leaders and the employees, the old and the young, all of this, regrettably, was so brutally and murderously brought down, laid waste, and exterminated by the German cannibals with the assistance of our neighbors of so many centuries.
Our streets are wrecked, our home laid waste, our spiritual well springs dried out, and our home tow destroyed and brought to shame.
Our martyrs have no grave markers, their ashes and earthly remains are sown and dispersed over tens of death camps, hundreds of ghettoes and forests, and a danger threatens that the emotional memory of their lives and the deep and restless lonesomeness and pain will, little-by-little ebb from our hearts, and their presence will become erased from our memory.
If there are no graves on which stone markers can be placed, then let the Yizkor Book serve as such a marker, and let it eternalize memories about their lives and activities, their striving and their aspirations, their suffering and their joy, let it bring out moments that reflect their Jewish heart and feeling, their good deeds and charity, let it bring out all of the details of their suffering and tragic denouement in Sanctification of the Name.
And from us, the simple Jews who have contributed and entire year to this book – whether those who lent their intellectual energies, the members of the Yizkor Book committee, or those who provided financial support – have the feeling that with the publication of this book, we fulfill a part of a sacred duty that lays upon the survivors of Tomaszow – the last of those from the generation that come from the period that has been locked away that had so richly referred to itself as Polish Jewry – to describe in writing, and to underscore, through our modest capabilities, everything that we know and remember about existence and struggle, blossoming and destruction of our home city of Tomaszow in the Lublin Province.
A special emphasis has been placed on the last period between the two World Wars, the stormy years of the development of the common Jewish people, and with special consideration for even more details about the tragic years of the Holocaust, of the bitter end.
We provided each and every landsman the opportunity to write as he felt, and however he could, in whatever language and form in which it was easier for him to reveal his hidden deeply-rooted memories, to portray types of people and personalities, institutions, societies and individuals, rabbis and community activists, various type of common people, all of whom placed their mark and helped to give form to the Jewish community of Tomaszow, to bring out episodes of commitment and idealism, in order that future generations have the opportunity to warm themselves at the beautiful ‘pillar of fire’ which shines down through the generations of the substantive history of Tomaszow-Lubelski.
This Yizkor Book is a collective endeavor written by landsleit who are not skilled in the literary arts, scattered throughout Israel, America Poland and Argentina. Each, in his own place, and in accordance with his own outlook, produced descriptions and portraits which are close to their respective hearts, indeed, not written in a professional manner, but because of this, are full of heart and longing. Therefore, you must forgive us, if here or there, you find some repetition of the same facts or names. This book does not have the purpose of revealing new material, which was not already known to our landsleit – our goal and striving was to emphasize and memorialize that which we know, so that it does not become forgotten and should be secured for the future, and through which a clear and honest picture should be brought out of Tomaszow, along with its institutions and organizations, initiatives and activities, conflicts and struggles, and that, what we know of the frightful suffering and annihilation of the Tomaszow Jews, shall be permanently preserved.
We have not pretended to produce a book prepared along the lines of a rigorous scientifically prepared study, about the history and destruction of the Tomaszow Jews. We are, therefore, satisfied that, with our limited ability, we have been able to gather up simple memories as well as [related] valuable materials, where the personalities, way of life, spiritual physiognomy and economic structure of Tomaszow is portrayed, which the serve the future historian as a basis and source for his research.
We must roll out the scroll of sorrow regarding the great misfortune of the bitter and terrifying Holocaust, and to read it in front of our children from its beginning to its end, with the fullest power of emphasis, and the clearest possible interpretation.
Great difficulties and pitfalls lay in our way towards the implementation of our plan and it demanded great persistence and will, love and faith in the importance of the endeavor, and let here be the place where we express our heartfelt gratitude and recognition to the secretary and backbone of the committee, Mr. Joseph Moskop for his commitment to the Yizkor Book, for the colossal work that he put into it, and very specially for his ceaseless encouragement and invigoration, which, in the end, led to the fact that this book could be published. And also to Mr. Yaakov Schwartz, from Kiryat Motzkin in Israel, for his literary assistance. He put in much energy to memorialize the frightening troubles and extermination by getting into personal contact with those living eye witnesses and recorded what they lived through. Also, R' Moshe Gordon, being among the older citizens in America, he was one of the first he was one of the first to direct the editorial work, until he made aliyah to Israel – demonstrating much understanding and affection for the book.
For us, brothers and sisters, dear landsleit, may this book serve as a memento of our beautiful ideal past, and provide us with an opportunity to unite ourselves with the memory of our dearest and nearest. May it remain a monument to eternalize Jewish Tomaszow.
May this book remain as a spiritual candle for those who were killed and a pillar of fire for those who survived.
May the way of life of our martyrs serve as a tower candle and a pointer that shows the way to our future, [let] their spirit be re-planted and rooted into the young hearts and minds of our future generations to continue forging the golden chain of Yiddishkeit forward.
With gratitude, we offer our thanks to The Creator, who, in the final analysis, permitted us to produce this Yizkor Book.
Still and broken, with our heads hung low, we recall, with sacred respect, the souls of our eternally unforgettable dear martyrs – Honor their Memory!
The Jewish Tomaszow of this world, regrettably no longer exists; however, thank God, Jewish Tomaszow children do live, and exist in our holy homeland Israel, under its own independence, and in other free corners of the larger world despite the ire and enmity of all who hate the Jewish people, and of the accursed German beasts, and we are able, once again, to say in a joyous manner to present the great legacy of our ancestors and we hope that no enemy will ever again have control over us. We are deeply persuaded that the light and spiritual words that the Nation of Prophets has given to the world, will drive off the forces of darkness, wickedness and defilement with which the German Amalek had wreaked havoc, indeed, with the prime objective of eradicating the spirit of Jewry together with its body – and may all wickedness be consumed in a column of smoke, and may the ideals of the End of Day come to fruition, when the Jewish people will regain its grandeur and become a light unto the nations, the spiritual standard-bearer and shower of the way for the highest ideals of humanity – The Eternity of Israel is no Lie!
We wish to record a special thanks to YIVO in New York for their assistance in providing materials and photographs for this book.
And, above all, to the Tomashover Relief Committee in New York for its positive, warm attitude and financial help which helped make possible the publication of this book.
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By J. Moskop
With the release of the book that lays in front of you, I deem it necessary to acquaint the readers with short excerpts connected with the preparation of this creation.
Initially, we began to do things about a Yizkor Book, for our city that was cut down, in the Land of Israel. I am unaware of any date for this. It reached here, in New York, about 1950 or 1951.
At that time, the newly arrived people from Tomaszow, were called to a gathering, which was attended by large numbers. Mr. Shmuel Shiflinger chaired the meeting. Sitting on the dais, were the real leaders of ‘Hevra B'nai Tomaszow.’ At that time, a proposal was placed before us that we should write up articles for a Tomaszow Yizkor Book which a committee in Israel is preparing to publish. The letter was written by Mr. Yaakov Herbstman in the name of the committee. Directly, at that very meeting, a committee was created for this purpose, but nothing was ever heard from that committee.
A few years later, seeing that nothing was emerging from the prior action, I attempted to take the initiative to start the activity anew. At that time, I conferred with Rabbi Rubin, and several other official people, and they all assured me of their cooperation.
The first minutes read as follows:
‘Saturday Night the portion of Tissa, March 3, 1956 the following people came together at the house of Mr. Eli' Lehrer in Brooklyn: Rabbi Yekhezkiel Rubin, Mr. Moshe Gordon, Mr. Shmuel Shiflinger, Mr. Fishl Hammer, Mr. Eli' Lehrer, Mr; Shimshon Holtz, Mr. Shammai Drilman, Mr. Joseph Moskop, Mr. Meir Neuhaus, Mr. Zvi Reis, Mr. Shlomo Weissleder, Mr. David Geyer, and Mr. Jonah Feldsehn, with the objective of creating a Yizkor Book in memory of the community of Tomaszow-Lubelski that had been exterminated, its martyrs, killed by the German murderers and their Polish accompanists.After all the opinions that were voiced, it was agreed to publish such a book.
A Yizkor Book committee is being created consisting of the following volunteering individuals: Sholom Licht, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Shiflinger, Mr. Moskop, Mr. Neuhaus, Mr. Hammer, and Mr. Holtz.
Allowance has been provided for others to join the committee.’
At a later meeting, I was elected Secretary, and Mr. Shiflinger – President (the latter resigned a short while later). At the time I assumed the position, I attempted to resist, since I gave an accounting that included the amount of technical work involved, and my minimal capacity to undertake this, but nobody else wanted to assume the position, and in order to assure that it wouldn't fall apart immediately at the outset, I was compelled to commit myself.
The difficulties that we encountered from the outset up to the end exceeded all of our expectations. From one side, we encountered landsleit who showed no understanding of the matter, and even offered resistance. A book is not needed, was their argument, who will read it? From the other side, from those who indeed did feel a need for this, there was an absence of faith in the realization of the plan, and this was the greatest of all the troubles. Our first call for an assembly of our landsleit to take part in this endeavor brought such a minimal response, which could have cast a pall of resignation on the strongest optimism.
Even from Israel, where there already existed a bit of collected material from prior efforts, initially, they did not want to send this to us. and they had a skeptical attitude as well. It was only after I had first assured them that we already possesses a lot of material, and that the publication of the book was beyond question, they sent us a small package of articles. And, at this point, I can reveal a secret, that the receipt of this small package indeed was an invigorating experience in the development of this creation. It was necessary to work out and distribute invitations, one after another, to awaken the belief in the people, and that they should send articles, and also the names of those who were killed. The fact that the entire burden for the undertaking lay only on a few numbered individuals, that you could count of the smaller half of the fingers of one hand, makes it possible to add many negatives about the book, first and foremost being its delay in publication. Because, in addition to the technical work that they needed to execute, such as: printing and distributing meeting notices, maintaining a correspondence with the committee in Haifa, Argentina, and various individuals, reading, proofing after printing, and even keeping track of reminders in their heads, and fund raising, as well as writing something of their own, they also had their own responsibilities to their families and livelihoods, which leave very little spare time and even less unhurried contemplative time demanded by this type of work.
And now, dear readers, should you encounter something in this book that does not meet with your approval, please understand that it is not possible to satisfy everyone's taste. If you encounter deficiencies, please take into consideration the overwhelming difficulties faced by those who did the work, who under the given circumstances could not overcome these deficiencies. This book will suffer from repetition of the same subject, meaning that the same matter will be touched upon in a variety of memoirs. In order to rationalize this, would have required a great deal of time, of which we were seriously short. In principle, we did not want to massage another person's writing, to the furthest extent possible. We also wanted to afford everyone the opportunity to write in his own way, or, if it is possible to say it this way, to pour out one's heart. However, we stood guard in the ranks of the possibilities, to assure that the facts presented were consistent with the truth. And if, here or there, inconsistencies have crept in, let us attribute that responsibility to the author of the article in question.
Do not criticize the compilers of the book for specific things that were a living part of city life, whether those were institutions or people, which were omitted or insufficiently documented. This is a lamentable fact, but in no way can you demand of anyone to create a written description of something with which he is insufficiently acquainted. If you cannot find one, or more, of your relatives in the list of the martyrs, have the decency to take responsibility yourselves, as to why you did not send in those names.
Like any other such undertaking, this book was edited by a committee with the difference being, that in other such efforts, it is placed in the hands of a professional, an expert in this area, with the requisite skills and qualifications and broad capacities. By contrast, with this book, from the outset, people undertook this work without any pretensions to expertise in this area, and with their limited capabilities. The editorial committee gave itself a thorough accounting of what a book of this nature can suffer from, that it entails many defects. However, in hearing out that the purpose of the book was not its literary luster, but only content as a memorial, we all applied our energies to assure that the book would express its sacred mission as far as it was possible.
And should you choose to measure and weigh the merits versus the shortcomings of this book, do not forget to add the fact of the existence of such a book in the scales, and you will have the totality of it before you.
Apart from those enumerated in the first minutes, the following people took part in the Yizkor Book Committee: Mr. Eli' Lehrer – Treasurer, Chaim Yehoshua Biederman, Asher Reis, Mrs. Rekhil Fust-Lehrer, David Geyer, Shlomo Weissleder, Vova Neu, Jonah Feldsehn, Leib'l Fleischer and Avigdor Greenwald.
In the Editorial Committee were: Sholom Licht, Mr. Moshe Gordon, Fishl Hammer (Nat), Shammai Drilman and the writer of these lines.
A committee in Israel, headed by R' Zusha Kawenczuk worked hand in hand with us.
Our landsleit in Argentina displayed a deep interest in the book. Their correspondence came to us through Shmuel Eliezer Branner, Yisroel'keh Eisen and Joseph Meldung.
To all those enumerated above, and all those who provided their part to this sacred duty with their pen, with contributions, or in other ways, permit me, here, to express my personal deepest ‘Yasher Koach,’ for their loyal cooperation without which we would have never been able to achieve our goal.
And if the remaining will forgive me, I wish to especially acknowledge with respect the following: Sholom Lavi, for his strenuous efforts and most especially for his research work which gave the book a special historical value, Yaakov Itcheh Schwartz, in Israel, who put in so much time, heart and talent, in portraying the suffering of those martyred by Hitler who survived, and in that process created a permanent record of the dark Hitler era in our vicinity. Mrs. Fust, who apart from providing a talented artistic contribution, also helped to re-write the Necrology. Fishl Hammer for his supporting work in editing the Hebrew articles. Shammai Drilman and Asher Reis, who apart from other things, gave away a whole set of free Sundays for fund raising from landsleit, in their own homes.
Let us all, whether those who took a part in the creation of this memorial, or those, who for whatever reasons did not participate, feel that this Yizkor Book comprises a joint plea of forgiveness tendered to our nearest, who were tortured and martyred, and as a way of covering our collective responsibility with respect to future generations.
In passing, I would like to remark here, that we approached the Society of the scions of Tomaszow many times, about cooperation in the creation of this book, but regrettably, they never evinced any cognizance of this effort. As an illustration, let us record the final letter of July 8, 1963, addressed to their secretary, Mr. Shiflinger with the following contents:
Most Significant Committee of ‘Hevra B'nai Tomaszow.’
Mr. President.In preserving the memory of our annihilated community in the Tomaszow Yizkor Book, we did not want to lose the opportunity to record your survival. We have therefore decided to open a section in this book about the life and activities of Tomaszow Jews all over the world.
As a body of people from Tomaszow, with a reputation for good community work over the course of many years, it would be only right for you to occupy an important place in this section. We would therefore like to ask of you, to compose a piece of work about your organization, your activities in a variety of areas, about matters of general interest, and also about the people who were, or currently are, connected with you in the performance of these activities.
Taking into consideration that the book is close to being published, we would ask that you attempt to expedite such writing.
At this opportunity, you will permit me to also say that other articles that have a bearing on the subject of this book can still be submitted.
With friendly regards,
J. M. Moskop, Secretary
Regrettably, this letter was ignored by them…. for the many who throw in our face the fact that we are preparing this book without them.
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It would appear that there is a young boy who is not identified, and the women on the right side are also not identified.] 1) Yoss'l Eisen, 2) Shmuel Eliezer Branner (Secretary), 3) Itzik Ziegelbaum, 4) Mordechai Weissberg (Chairman), 5) Moshe Wertman (Treasurer), 6) Moshe Chaim Tsan, 7) Yitzhak Sherman, 8) Zalman Leichter, 9) Leib'l Tsan, 10) David Mittelpunkt, 11) Noah Weisser, 12) Yitzhak Bricks, 13) Shammai Millstein, 14) Yoss'l Sznycer, 15) Sholom Sherman |
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Sitting (From the Right): Sarah Kuppersztuk (Barenstein), Gershon Katz, Moshe Gordon, Ary' Weitz, Chaim Joseph Lehrer, Yaakov Shlonbaum Standing: Zusha Kawenczuk, Moshe Blonder |
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