[Page 3]

[Page 4]

The Great Synagogue

[Page 5]

[Page 6]

[Page 7]

A HOLOCAUST VERSION of the PRAYER for the SOULS of THE DEPARTED ONES Al Maleh Rachamim Oh, God, Who art full of compassion, who dwellest on high, grant perfect rest in Thy Divine Presence to all the souls of our holy and pure brethren from Zborow and surrounding areas whose blood was spilt, who were killed strangled, burned, and buried alive for the sanctification of Thy Holy Name. For those souls we now pray. May their resting places be in the Garden of Eden, may the Master of Mercy shelter them in the shadow of His wings for eternity; and may he bind their souls in the Bond of Life. HaShem is their heritage, and may they repose in peace in their resting places. Now, let us say: AMEN.

[Page 8]

ZELIG YARON (JAEGER)	ELIYAHU (ADYK) SILBERMAN
GERSHON SCHNEIDER	ARYE ROTEM
AZRIEL POLLAK	YEHUDIT KATZ
MICHAL FUHRMAN	EPHRAIM KATZ
Production by Tarbut, Haifa Graphics, Design, and Pre-Press by Josef Graf, Haifa Title page: Joel Buchwald Hand Drawn Map from Memory by Michal Fuhrman
Published by the Landsmansheft of Zborow and Surrounding Areas in Israel HAIFA 1975

[Page 11 - Yiddish] [Pages 9-10 - Hebrew]

Our long-term quest to honor and perpetuate the memory of the Jewish community of Zborow and to raise a memorial to its sons and daughters-the martyrs who were murdered by Nazis-has finally been realized.

To those from Zborow-now in Israel and abroad-we offer the book as a reflection of life in their hometown in its various historical eras. The book tells the stories of our loved ones, of their hopes and dreams, as well as the torturous road to their horrific end.

The sense of satisfaction we feel at realizing, after much effort, the mission we set for ourselves, is also an expression of how deeply we honor those in whose memory the book is published.

We have tried to stay true to the essence of our beloved hometown. The book is not a monograph based on objective research by professionals. We aim only to create a collective memorial to our town, a book written by many for many.

Eighty five men and women strive to bring to life in these pages the spirit of their town and its inhabitants in it their various stages, each guided by his memories, experiences, and expressiveness. Many of them remember our town in those peaceful, idyllic days before the catastrophe and speak of it with love, nostalgia, often with a smile. Different are the stories of those who lived through the hell fires that engulfed our town and her Jews. They carry the horror of their pasts deep in their hearts. Their memories are steeped in the agonizing and devastating images they witnessed of the killing of their nearest and dearest and the mass murders of their friends and neighbors as they themselves lived under constant threat of death.

[Page 12]

The horrors that raged before their eyes; the constant fear for their own lives, the trials they endured in their attempts to escape and finally the joy of surviving-all is depicted in detail, true to life, and in full identification with the victims-a scroll of sorrow that leaves us shaken to the core.

Our town was not much different from other Jewish towns and villages in Poland, and we tried to highlight what stood out about it, especially in the sections by our beloved R' Binyamin, of blessed memory, from his book From Zborow to the Kineret [Sea of Galilee]; the heartfelt memoir of Gershon Labiner; the sober analysis of Benjamin Reiss, and other entries.

We treated the memories of everyone with great respect and did not reject any material. We would like to note that every entry was written openly and honestly, with no ulterior motive, and there was no need to hide anything or keep it under wraps.

We don't feel it necessary to recount the many difficulties we encountered in collecting the material. More than once, we were about to give up. And that this book of 480 pages of text, illustrations, historical documents-came to be, is thanks to the unparalleled dedication and devotion of our friend Eliahu (Adyk) Silberman, who for years, carried the burden of preparing the book for publication. His work has been invaluable.

We extend hearty thanks to Arye Schintl, from Haifa, whose knowledge, expertise, and experience contributed greatly to the publication of the book.

We wish to thank the author Kichler-Silberman for allowing us to reprint segments from her book, and we also thank the descendants of R' Binyamin, of blessed memory. Special thanks to Yad Vashem for their material, and to Mrs. Tova Cohen (Fuhrmann) for copying some of the material, and to Aba Fusbel, from Haifa, for translating the Yiddish texts.

We know that with the publication of this book, we have not fulfilled all the goals we had set for ourselves. It is doubtful that one can even put on paper the sparkle and spirit of our town before the catastrophe, or its tragic and gruesome end.

There are, of course, oversights and errors in the book. But we hope that it is a worthy memorial to the Jewish community of Zborow, our beloved hometown, and her unforgettable sons and daughters.

[Pages 13-16]

  Zborov, Ukraine     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 5 Aug 2024 by LA