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[Page 211]
By Israel Amir (Isaac Solkis)
Translated by Meir Bulman
Who does not remember Shalom Hafeh? And who does not remember Hemya Momek and his heroic sons? They were truly the heroes of town to the point that all the mishzins [?] (city folk) feared them like death! Hemya Momek's oldest son, Herrish, fell in battle at the center of the market while the Austrians retreated and the Polish were gaining control. It is said that, in his death, he saved the town Jews from a real pogrom.
They are worthy of remembrance. And while we are mentioning good men and heroes of Israel, why not remember Zelmaleh and his family? His wife Sheva–Chava saved people who were on death's doorstep by storming the synagogue during prayers and running to the holy ark. It was said that her prayers were always heard by the heavens and thus she saved many dying people. The sons of Zelmaleh Shmuelik, the short– statured, healthy man, and Yosef Pandre, the bravest among them. You think that only in Salman Schneour's Shklov there was a Pandre?
Zelmaleh Scrab [Shrab ?] had it all; he even had a son that became a shochet[1]. If we are already mentioning pure and kind people, we should remember many other people like Leibish Baruch the baker. He had so much folksy humor and wisdom.
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Leibish's father, R' Baruch Shemesh: what a beloved, happy Jew. He was always content, he never needed anything.
Moshe Chaim Yonlis also had it all. He earned a nice living but it was enough for him so he went to Shmelki Drimler's shop and began telling jokes to Rachel Leah. She was so busy listening to Moshe that she forgot the store and her husband Shmelki was angry. But how can one be upset with Moshe while he tells jokes and Torah tidbits? Rivakh Leah served Moshe Chaim Yonlis another cup of tea and he continued his tales. Can it be imagined that Moshe would not tell more jokes? Moshe Chaim also did not believe it would end like that.
Do you remember Alter Borik? [?] He awoke at dawn to summon the residents to worship the creator with Psalms and Selichot during the Days of Awe. He then went home and continued to sew. Jews need to make a living! The Hasidim would wait for the kippahs (yarmulkes) Alter sewed for them.
And who did not know Yerachmiel Shechnils [?] A gentle Jew. He always sat at his kiosk, waiting for customers, humming a Hassidic tune. On holidays and Shabbat he was the cantor at the Trisker shtibel[2]. He had a wonderful voice which was a true pleasure to hear. We will no longer hear the voice of that songbird.
And the Tzaddik Nistar[3] Rabbi Alter Sherf, husband of Tzippi the baker? He retired from his family life and moved to the Turobin rebbe's bet midrash where he slept by the fireplace and, in the corner, organized somewhat of a workshop to fix eating utensils, by which he would live [make a living?]. He did not want much and did not want any help; he was content with his lot.
And Shmuel Zanvil Shtarker! Der Shetshki Shnyder, the one who knew how to sign his name with his right foot. [?] He had such nice handwriting, a true graphic artist. His son–in–law the convert, Avraham ben Avraham Rachinski, the lawyer, nephew of the Polish interior minister. All Jewish residents went to see Shmuel and his son–in–law walk to the synagogue carrying the large Polish language prayer book. The gentiles exploded in jealousy. He stood in his courtroom with such Jewish honor.
We will remember all the craftsmen: the cobblers, tailors, hatters, carpenters, and coachmen.
Yaakov Lub [?] Gels [?] the shfilter [?] who, on holidays and Shabbat, led prayers at the Turobiner's bet midrash and sounded the shofar on the Days of Awe. He rehearsed while traveling from Turobin to Lublin. He prayed as he prepared for Rosh Hashanah and sounded the shofar, as the horses knew the road and did not need a coachman. The other passengers were joyful and did not sleep the whole night, as the journey from Turobin to Lublin was done during the night. We will remember them all forever.
In their death, they commanded us to never forget the Nazi party which caused the malicious loss of half of our nation.
Editor's Footnotes:
By Mordecai Hopen (Yoskovitz)
Translated by Meir Bulman
Among all of his friends was also the young woman, Tamar (Tammy) Feder, R' Moshe Feder's daughter. I still remember her as she passed by our house headed to the clinic; she was a strong woman full of youthful energy and a loud laugh which echoed through the air. The friendship ties between the two
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increased until one day we learned that soon they would marry. They married and a year later had a boy named Uriel. I, as their friend and a frequent visitor to their home, knew him well and often [sat] by his crib and carried him. Before he could experience Galut[1], his parents managed to make aliyah. Here, the boy grew, was raised in the homeland and absorbed dedication at home and at school. In his childhood, he was playful and in his youth
[Page 214]
had pleasant traits and qualities; he was always honest and in solidarity. He grew until he became a man of valor and a soldier. When he enlisted – doubtful if even 16 springs had passed – he was already in battle. As he provided cover for his friends on the battlefield, his life was given [sacrificed].
The pain was immense, especially for his mother who could not be consoled. The pain of losing her son ate away at her heart for years until one fateful day she passed away.
Their spirits serve as examples and their memory remains in our heart.
Bless their memory!
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Pictured: R' Isaac, Silka, Niece Sheindel, Nephew Yisrael Amir |
R' Isaac the Town “Soltis”
R' Isaac Oberweiss [Aubrois?] was a leader in town. The residents called him by his title, R' Isaac Soltis (“leader” in Polish).
R' Issacs's role was to serve as a middleman between the authorities and the Jewish population. R' Isaac accompanied government officials during their regular activities within the Jewish community. He handed out notices for various taxes, court summons, military enlistment summons, fines, etc. Every Jew who sensed a financial trouble looming, for example a garnishment, approached R' Isaac for help. More than once, R' Isaac saved many members of the Jewish community from trouble while risking his standing and knowingly violating the law, yet he still acted on behalf of Jews.
His wife was named Silka. The halutzim called her “Aunt” due to her support and kind–heartedness.
The home of R' Isaac and Silka was used as a meeting spot for Zionist youth activities. There, the youth found a warm, pleasant atmosphere and a full understanding of their activities.
R' Moshe Leib Silberklang's FamilyR' Mohse Leib Ben Asher was a respected member of the community. He was a tall man with a trimmed beard, high cheekbones, and blue eyes. He was pleasant, spoke calmly, and had a sense of humor. His garb was Jewish–traditional: a long coat with a slit in the back, a nice tie, and a short jacket near the house. (Devoutly Orthodox men were forbidden to wear short jackets.) He was considered progressive and indeed he was. Youth issues were near and dear to him and he treated the Zionist movements with admiration. He was a generous contributor, and alert to the problems between the authorities and the Jewish community. He was a Jew who held his head high and his appearance was respectful. If I recall correctly, he served in the Czarist Russian army and was among the royal regiment which especially selected strong, tall young men.
His lucky stars summoned to him as a counterpart to his wife Zelda (Zelda'le), a woman who was blessed with all the great qualities of a Jewish mother. She was an energetic and bright woman. The couple had 3 boys and 7 girls who were raised and educated in the spirit of Jewish tradition full devotion.
On Pilsdoski Street there was a large house with many rooms. The house was owned by R' Moshe Leib's family. The family resided there and in it formed the vessels [created the vessels?] which made up the Jewish family in those days. Additionally, part of the house served as a pub and home–restaurant. The restaurant was established and run by Zelda. She did not make due with her husband's earnings, fearing they would not suffice for her large family. She tastefully prepared the food; gefilte fish, roast, and dumplings were famous, especially known by the Christian intelligentsia who often dined on Zelda's gefilte fish.
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Father Moshe Leib; Mother Zelda'le; the children Chaya, Hinda, Blumah (now in Israel), Heshel (Yehoshua Ben–Ari, in Israel,) Sarah, Rivkah, Pinchas, Asher Zelig, Mattill, Rachel Leah In the right–side corner: Chaya and her daughter, of Blessed Memory |
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The house was also a meeting spot for girls. The girls were divided in their opinions. Most girls were Zionists. One of them, Bluma, was active in Hakhalutz[2]. She is with us in Israel. (The son Yahushua who was active in Hapoel Hamizrachi[3] is also with us in Israel). Some were members of Bais Yaakov (an extremist religious movement). When girls were recruited for Flower Day on behalf of Keren Kayment[4], or for emptying KKL boxes and the like, the Silberklang girls were always considered. The oldest daughter, Chaya'le, was a volunteer librarian at Tarbut. The house also served as a school, as one of the daughters, Hinda, was a teacher. The Silberklang house was dubbed
[Page 217]
“The Girl Swarm” by the young people (due to its structure). There was multicolored dance, the center of lively youthfulness. It closely followed the political discourse within the Zionist movement or elsewhere, and often centered debates on literary issues or socializing. All of those created the image of the young men and women in town, breathed life into it and gave it content. I remember the frequent singing which echoed from that home, songs of Zion or youthful laughter, caressing [?] as the door opens.
That house was closed and silenced forever. Did those young folks imagine they would be quashed by the Nazi boot?
Bless their memory!
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From the right: Avraham Kopf, Lemmel Katz, Chaya Silberklang, Y. Ben–Ari, Miriam Levin |
Editor's Footnotes:
By S. Barkai
Translated by Meir Bulman
In memory of the Hopen family, cruelly murdered by Poles in Tevet, 5704, January 1943
R' Yaakov Moshe Hopen Ben Pinchas HaCohen; his wife Esther Rivkah bat R' Shlomo Yanover; their daughters Golda, Devorah, and Perl; their son Elazar; their grandchild (Golda's child; and Golda's husband of the Gutwiling family of Goraj were all martyred by Polish murderers.
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In 1905, R' Yaakov Moshe married Esther Rivka, the only daughter of R' Shlomo and Tisha Yanover. The Yanover family was from a great lineage, Orthodox and educated rooted in Turobin and the surrounding towns. R' Yitzchak Yanover, son of Shlomo Yanover, was a leader in the Turobin community for a few years in the 1930s.
R' Yaakov Moshe was accepted into the Yanover family. The marriage was a combination of Torah and the Way of the Land. The opinion in town was that the considerations for the combination of the linages (aside from fate) were that the son–in–law, Moshe Hopen, was a wealthy and skilled tradesman as well as a handsome man with a well–combed long black beard, full eyebrows, and burning eyes under his long lashes. After the wedding, the couple settled in Hinda's house. The apartment on the second floor which overlooked the Great synagogue
[Page 219]
was furnished and decorated generously and tastefully, according to the standard of the time.
R' Yaakov Moshe's business was leather, fur, and hair, an inherited trade. His business ties spread across a large territory from Bilgorj–Janów–Krasnik in the west and Tomashov–Zamość–Krasnistav– Izbicia in the east, including local towns and villages. He bought the merchandise in that area and sold it in Mezric or Leipzig. Mezric was considered a center of the trade. R' Moshe was subscribed to a paper named The Mezritsher Vachenshrift or a similar name. That paper mainly contained the prices of various furs. R' Moshe spent most of the week traveling and he returned home as Shabbat approached. At home, family life developed, children were born, and life flowed calmly until WWI erupted.
Following WWI, the town was burned and the family wandered to Ludmir (Waldimir–Wylinsk.) Most of the Hopen family resided in that town so R' Moshe and his family settled in it. It was wartime and in Volyn and Ukraine, gangs of murderers of Jews like Petlorvzi, Bolkhovz, Helrzikim, and plain Cossacks roamed. The trains and their schedules were disrupted but Yaakov Moshe still traveled as was his custom. One night, as Yaakov Moshe returned from Shepetivka or the Rivne area, one of the gangs attacked the Jewish passengers. At the time, Jewish life was considered abandoned. But not Yaakov Moshe. He fought them as long as his strength would allow him. When he saw there was no other way, he jumped from the train, and after many troubles, reached his destination. Another night, two Heller gangsters attacked him and all they wanted was to cut his beard. But for Moshe, his long, carefully kempt beard was both a priceless possession and a symbol. Anyone who wanted to shave such a beard violated the commandment against waste. And so he fought them, risked his life, and hit them with the blows of the son of Phineas. He was one against many but could withstand them. After a dramatic chase, the barber[?] at the train station in Lutsk rescued him, and also ensured his return to Ludmir. He returned home injured and exhausted, his head full of wounds and a scarred body. His wife, Esther Rivkah, dressed his head with a cold compress for long hours. R' Moshe was consoled by one thing: “They did not cut my beard.” He would claim “The beard is a symbol of human dignity,” and that man “was created in God's image.” He fought for Jewish honor; other ktzafim [word unclear?] were also bearded but the rioters did not attack them. Yaakov Moshe was a proud Jew and did not accept anti–Semitism and responded against anti–Semitic acts. If he witnesses a Jew in trouble among gentiles, he would always help and never leave him. He was a kind man with unlimited love of Israel. After the many troubles war had brought, and after advice from the Belzer Rebbe, the family returned to Turobin in the late 1920s.
After the move, a problem arose concerning the education of the children. In Ludmir, the children studied at the cheder and the Tarbut school. But in the small town, there was only a Polish school. Despite being a Hassid and devoutly religious, Yaakov Moshe worried first about professional education and immediately upon return brought a Hebrew teacher. He required Torah with [that Torah be taught according to] the Way Of The Land but could not find agreement
[Page 220]
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Top row from the right: Mordechai, Golda, Yehoshua, Devorah, Itamar Second row: Elazar, Y. Moshe, A. Rivka, Perl |
in the religious town. The opposite was true; his concern for educating the younger generation met resistance from Orthodox circles, especially Gur Hassidim[1]. As anyone familiar with the town and towns like it knows, going to war for a Hebrew teacher is suicide. Such a moment could bring about a boycott of the initiator. But Yaakov Moshe did not surrender and was wise to not battle with words but with actions. Immediately after one teacher left, he replaced him with another.
Years passed, the children grew, and Yaakov Moshe expressed his concern about the idle youth of town. He recited to his sons, “What could the son do to avoid sinning?[2]” and “Inactivity is an unforgivable sin.” He often told his friends that the community must see that a professional school of quality was needed, rather than [spending money on] the many expenses caused by the disputes in town. Yaakov Moshe took no part in the fights between the various sects in town. That fight among brothers consumed everything and there was barely anyone not caught up in those disputes. Yet, it could not capture Moshe. He would claim, “What difference does it make what sect the ritual slaughterer belongs to (Trisk or Gur)? Will his blessing, the recitation before the slaughter, be different?”
[Page 221]
Still, the Gur Hassidim did not eat meat slaughtered by the Trisk slaughterer and vice versa. Truthfully, nobody knew the cause of the dispute (it must have been the result of a nation without a homeland.) During those days Yaakov Moshe, with the help of some town notables, founded the Bais Yaakov[3] school and the Bnos Yaakov[4] union. He oversaw the smooth operation of those institutions. He devoted his free time to those institutions, in part because his three daughters were members.
Despite the different political or movement affiliations of R' Moshe's sons and daughters, their home served as a center for Zionist activities brought in by the boys. The girls initiated meetings of Bais Yaakov activists who held fierce debates against Zionism. The atmosphere in that home was unlike other Orthodox homes where a conversation about Zionism or Zionist activity was the same as straying off the righteous path. Moshe and his wife Rivka treated with love and understanding [those who shared] the political affiliations of their sons and daughters and helped them. The home was open to all. Many came and went, came in hungry and left full.
As luck would have it, their three sons Mordechai, Yehoshua and Itamar made aliyah. At the height of WWII, Itamar maintained correspondence with them through the Red Cross and negotiated with the Swiss government (with the help of relatives and friends in the U.S.) to receive temporary visas for the family, based on mutual guarantees, etc. It cannot be said the Swiss government treated the request warmly, and if not for their delays in their responses which dragged across months, there is no doubt the family could have been saved. We hereby bring copies of two letters from the Red Cross. One of them is dated March 6, 1942 and states the daughter Golda is married, highlighting that the family is still in place. The second letter is dated March 30, 1943 in which it was requested that all family members sign. The most painful and shocking response was received, “The family has not been found at the recorded address and their address is unknown.”
Different versions exist as to the extermination of the family. One version is
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[Page 223]
that they were murdered in the woods near Otrotsha [?] Village. A second version claims they were murdered between the villages of Chłaniów and Chirnichin [Czarnocin?] while they escaped the final clearing unit on the way to Izbica. All versions agree that the abomination was done by Poles. May the next generation know what that nation has inflicted upon us and judge why they were not condemned in the same manner [in which] the people of Hitler were condemned.
Bless the memory of our martyrs.
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Editor's Footnotes:
By A. Ginaton
Translated by Meir Bulman
R' Eizik the shochet was a well–known personality in the community. In addition to being a ritual slaughterer and examiner, he was honest and studious and so he was beloved by the community. Additionally, R' Eizek was blessed with musical talent and so he served as cantor, not just a cantor but THE cantor. To please the audience with song and conduct the choir, R' Eizeik used musical notes (using notes 50–60 years ago in such a small community was rare). Apparently, that musical gift passes in part by inheritance to his sons and grandsons. When his son–in–law, Chaim Gutbertz, lived in Warsaw, his sons participated in the choir of the Grand Synagogue on Tlomtski Street.
R' Eizik was blessed with many daughters. One of them, named Iyta Bluma, married Chaim Gutbertz. After WWI began, the Gutbertz family relocated to Warsaw where they resided for a few years. After the war ended, the Gutbertz family with its five sons returned to their hometown Turobin.
The national awakening in those days in Poland, especially in Warsaw, affected the Gutbertz family as well. The national consciousness, i.e. the desire for a return to Zion, was brought by the family as an inseparable as the physical load. The family constructed a small home which served three purposes: a workshop (the boys sewed for leather shoes); a center for Zionist activities; and living. The oldest son, Shmuel Abba was one of the founders of the Tarbut librarian.
There are no means to describe how small the apartment was. To this day I do not understand how that space was able to contain so many people and form
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such a colorful life tapestry. A person who has not witnessed the size of the place, the life within it, and the emotional experiences in all their forms will not ever believe it. As I mentioned, the place served as a workshop and so the cobblers gathered there, some to drop off work and others to pick up work. They enjoyed gathering there to hear news and converse. The workmen's organization was big and was influential in community life. The organization did not officially declare an affiliation with the Zionist movement. The Gutbertz family used their professional status to instill Zionist consciousness in the industrious Jewish group. That is praiseworthy because of the impact and its mark on the Zionist youth movements. As time progressed, the workmen became admirers of the Zionist movement. At the same time and place where work matters took place, active Zionists gathered to plan activities regarding Tarbut, Keren Kaymet, aliyah, flower day, etc. At the same time, Yakov–Leib Yaffe, (a music student who returned from Warsaw) and an energetic, avid Zionist, engaged and argued with those present about issues
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Standing: Shmuel Abba, Yosef, and Moshe Seated: Uri and his son Yisrael and wife Esther, and the parents, Iyta Bluma and Chaim |
Including Zionism. The debates took on serious form and Yaffe wanted to respectfully conclude them; then he would declare, “Shmuel Abba, please give me your violin!” Yaffe then beautifully played a Chopin piece which he had prepared for Herzl's Memorial Day.
See what can be accomplished in such a narrow space: a workshop, a choir with an orchestra and a stage, a wonderful cheerful sight. Iyta Bluma, the mother, pleasantly greeted the arrivals and during the winter offered a hot cup of tea. Chaim, the father, was an honest and humble man, living from the fruits of his labor and respected by all. R' Chaim was often involved in debates taking place in his home and his words were given credence. During the Days of Awe, the Gutbertz family filled an important role: they stood by grandfather Isaac's side and sang in a choir at the synagogue.
Such was the Gutbertz family home until the bitter Nazi enemy came and destroyed those good and pure souls. Bless their memory forever.
One family member survives. Moshe made Aliya as a halutz, was among the activists of the Borochov Organization and among the first conquerors of Hanita.
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