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The Memorial for Rabbi Gordin in the Synagogue - A Big Market and a Municipal Garden – A Synagogue and a Beit Midrash – Rabbis of the City, Geonim[1] and Scholars – Russian Army Stationed in the City – Jewish Soldiers in the Guard Corps – The Event of a Jewish Soldier Who Married a Young Woman – Rabbi Gordin's Halakhic[2] Response – The Mourning in Augustów Over the Death of the Kovno Rabbi. |
In Augustow there was felt seriousness and restrained joy. The heart was full to its banks with happiness, together with a feeling of concern not to display the feelings publicly. This tension was especially felt in the home of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gordin, who was also the government-appointed rabbi. About an hour ago, the Mayor of the town visited him, a patriotic Polish Christian, but he knew to hide his affection for the Homeland. He entered the rabbi's house with a grimacing face affecting sadness. “Our Tsar is dead” he stated in a restrained tone, full of restrained joy and affected grief – “We must announce from tomorrow the days of mourning.” The rabbi agreed with him that the Russian Homeland had suffered a great loss.
The Polish residents of the town rejoiced. They knew that the Jews were no less happy than they were, but everyone was concerned not to reveal their joy openly. The fear was especially great of the “angry ones” in the city. The rabbi immediately informed all of the family heads in the city, to all the synagogue shammashim[3] and gabbaim.[4] The next day candles were lit in all prayer houses. The rabbi ordered the community to recite Psalm 109.[5] All the government officials came. The large Beit Midrash was full to overflowing. The rabbi himself concluded with sorrowful moaning devotion, with heavenly tones in his baritone voice the verses of the Psalm:
“9: May his children be orphans, his wife a widow. 10: May his children wander from their hovels, begging in search of [bread]. 11: May his creditor seize all his possessions; may strangers plunder his wealth. 12: May no one show him mercy; may none pity his orphans…”
The rabbi finished reciting the whole chapter and the head of the city almost entirely poured himself out with grief…[6]
Nevertheless, the city of Augustów continued to develop as it had done since coming under the yoke of Russian rule. Its population continued to grow bigger. What did the city look like during the second half of the 19th Century? We find a few details about this in the book whose author[7]* spent the years of his youth there and knew it well.
Augustów was then a clean and beautiful city surrounded by forests. The city center was the market and in its center there was a city park with a podium for military bands.
In the city were found all the Jewish institutions common to Jewish communities all over the world and in Israel. First of all, a magnificent synagogue, the first in the city, which was in the fortieth year of the 19th Century. The synagogue was erected a long time after there was already a “congregation” in the town. The synagogue had a large courtyard in the front. The youth and the children were afraid to walk past this respected and admired building at night because of their belief that the dead congregated there at night to pray. In the Beit Midrash, they were engaged,
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as was the pattern in all the cities and towns in those days, in prayer and in the study of the Torah. There was a Talmud society, and a Mishnah society, a society for the study of the Kuzari[8] and “Chovevot HaLevavot,”[9] “Ein Yaakov,”[10] and the recitation of the Psalms, to which belonged “amcha.”[11] The Beit Midrash was packed full in the evenings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were five synagogues in Augustów in addition to the kloizim. We can get a general idea of the Kloizim, from the list of signatories of various societies: “The Bridge Kloiz” – its Treasurer son of Reb[12] Betzalel son of Reb Yaakov; “the New Kloiz” - its Treasurer Reb Ze'ev the son of Reb Dovid the Levi; “the Torah Society Kloiz” – its Treasurer Reb Dovid son of Reb Eliyahu Dobovski; “the Society of the Scripture Kloiz” – its Treasurer Reb Moshe son of Reb Shlomo; “the Chevre Kadisha Kloiz”[13] – its Treasurer Reb Shachne Kostinski; “the Kloiz of the Chayei Adam Society”[14] - its Treasurer Reb Peretz, shochet u'bodek;[15] the Great Beit Midrash - its Treasurer Reb Sholom Berkovitz; the Hospital – Reb Zanvil Leib Varhaftig; The Tiferet Bachurim Society;[16] The “Ein Yaakov” group of the Bridge Kloiz; the Kloiz of the Long Street; the Kloiz of the Chassidim.[17] And also the treasurers are mentioned: Reb Chaim Breiman, Reb Yom-Tov Lipman the prayer leader, Reb Kaddish son of Reb Mordechai Arieh, shochet u'bodek.
The old cemetery is found really in the middle of the city, next to the Kloiz of the Chassidim It is clear that at the time of its establishment, it was outside of the city, but over the course of time, the area became filled with dwelling places. The cemetery consisted of a small area with gravestones sunken in the earth. It had already been locked for a long time, from a lack of space, and they would only visit it on Tisha B'Av.[18] The new cemetery, founded during the time of the Russian conquest, was far from the city, across the river. Over the course of time it became closer to the city.
One of the heads of the veteran families in the city was Reb Leizer Keinan, a householder among his people, one of the first in the Jewish settlement of the city, and his wife, Feigl. They had six daughters who married the sons of respected families in town, who were at once symbols of the Torah and greatness. Over the course of time they became respected public figures. The daughters were all girls of virtue. Leah was married to Arieh Lap, Beila to the Rabbi Dovid Mordechai Markus, Devorah to Zalman Arieh Koptziovski, Channah to Yisrael Grosberg, Zlata to Yaakov Frenkel, who was a writer and Maskil.[19] The sixth daughter married a man from the city and they settled in Grodno.
Treasurers and community elders in town in various periods were: Shmuel Eisenstadt, Barukh Leib Otshein, Yisrael Grosberg, Shmuel Grinberg , Binyamin Veirach, Dovid Shlomo Varhaftig, Shimon Varhaftig, Yehuda Kahan, Zalman Leviush, Dovid Slutzky, Yehuda Leib Levatinski (the head of the city at the time of the German conquest), Leib Lap, Yosef Barukh Margoliot, Dovid Mordechai Markus, Zalman Koptziovski, Reuven Rotenberg, Dovid Leib Aleksandrovitz, B. Lieberman. In the Long Street (Długa), there lived a righteous man, Rebbe Shepsel Panos, a shop owner who sold each day just enough for him to live on, after which he locked the shop. He was much esteemed in the city, and many children were named for him.
Augustów had a library with a wealth of books in various languages. In the city, there was a strong movement of “Chovevei Tzion” and there could be seen in it the first buds of the illegal socialist movement. The elders of the city used to tell that “they” (the socialists), did “something terrible” and on one occasion detectives arrived in a carriage, caught them and led them away, and no one knows where they disappeared to, and it was forbidden to talk too much about it…
Among the Rabbis who, from time to time came to visit the city and to preach to the congregation and disseminate was the well-known rabbi, Yisrael Meir son of Arieh Ze'ev the Cohain from Radin, the “Chofetz Chayim”.[20]
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The Lithuanian towns, even the smallest among them, always aspired to seat the most famous rabbis. Even Augustów didn't fall short of the other towns, in that respect. It is interesting to note that the rabbis of Augustów were far from the type referred to by the Maskilim as “dark ones.”[21] When Augustów searched for a rabbi, the heads of the community first tried to find out if the rabbi understood spirit of the time. The substance of the fact that all these rabbis were more or less close to the hearts of the local Maskilim demonstrates the strength of the “Haskalah”[22] in Augustów.
Dr. Nachum Slouschz,[23] the great Hebrew researcher and writer, recorded in his impressions of his journeys on the Jews of the area these characterizing words: “They are all walking on the ‘Golden Mean’[24]…There are no great Torah scholars, but here there are many house-holders who know Torah. There are no outstanding Maskilim here but the ‘Enlightenment’, especially the practical one, has spread everywhere without awakening fanaticism. There is no anarchy here, but neither is there excessive fanaticism.”[25]
Owing to the closeness of the Prussian border to the Augustów region, the ideas of Moses Mendelssohn,[26] who lived in Berlin, spread more quickly. Even the writer Y.SH. Weiss (Yehoshua Halivni), who dwelt in the area, relates that the local people had been much influenced by Mendelssohn's ideas. Jews from Augustów visited many towns in the area, in both in the “Pale of Settlement”[27] and outside it, and more than one of them was attracted to some extent to the new ways of life. It also happened that Jews from large cities, in which Jewish life already had a different face, moved to Augustów.
After the failure of the Polish revolution, special barracks to house soldiers were erected in Augustów. It was not a small garrison. There were also found not a small number of Jews in the contingent, some of whom would come and go in the homes of Jews in Augustów. Also, the many soldiers influenced the new way of life.
In the center of the marketplace, they would conduct training exercises for the newly recruited troops. In them they would teach them how to march properly, to stretch themselves out like strings and like stone statues. They taught them how to hold a rifle and carry it on the shoulder, to thrust a bayonet into the heart of a man made of straw, and so on. A large group of adults and youths always gathered to watch the soldiers' training, how they all as one lifted their right leg and lowered it at the same time, all of them together. In the eyes of many it seemed to be an interesting display. In the city there also dwelt Cossacks, among them were some natives of Kalmykia wearing nose-rings and also some black-skinned people. They would host the Jewish soldiers among them in Jewish homes for Shabbatot and Festivals.[28] On time, the following event occurred: There was a party in one of the “Swedish” families (by this name was known those who would leave the city for a few months of the year and travel to Sweden to peddle. There were a few such families in Augustów and they were considered wealthy). A Jewish soldier placed a ring on the finger of a mature adult girl and said: “Behold, by this ring you are consecrated to me according to the law of Moses and Israel,” in the presence of a few friends, also soldiers, as witnesses.[29] The matter was talked about by everyone. The girl's mother was crying and wailing. The father, one of the so-called “Swedes,” was not at home, but he was informed and arrived speedily at home. The match was not to their liking. The girl was her parents' only child, and the man who had wed her was an ignorant uneducated person,
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the son of simple folk from Odessa. What did they do? They turned to the rabbi of the city, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gordin, with a request that he come to their aid in this desperate moment and save them from the embarrassment that had been caused them. Meanwhile the Jews of the city were confused by this event, to the point where they were afraid to admit the Jewish soldiers into homes where there were mature daughters. The parents of the girl offered the soldier compensatory money on condition that he gave the daughter a get,[30] but he refused. Then again: if he gave her a get, she would become “divorced,” and what respectable young man would agree to marry a divorcée? If so, she would be likely to remain with her virginity until her hair turns white, or she is married to a divorced man or a widower. In short, here was a real problem and the embarrassment was great. Only the “Mara D'Atra”,[31] the rabbi of the city, would be able to help. Rabbi Gordin shut himself up in a room in the Beit Din[32] to raise the matter in the form of “Question and Answer.”[33] Eventually he cancelled the marriage[34] of the soldier, since he found a defect in the soldiers who were the witnesses. He saw them smoking on Shabbat, which is to say, that they were publicly desecrating the Shabbat. They also ate non-kosher food from the garrison kitchens and were “wanton” men.[35],[36]
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The Rabbi didn't want to rely on himself. He found it proper to turn to the well-known rabbi of Kovno, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, and sent him the response to the question that he had composed, which included his legal decision to nullify the marriage. After a few days, there arrived the Kovno rabbi's agreement with the “Response,” the legal decision made by the rabbi from Augustów, and with that, the matter was concluded in the girl's favor.
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The event was published in the books of “Questions and Answers” of the rabbi “Teshuvot Yehuda”[37] that appeared in Vilna in the year 5668-1908 with a substantiation of the testimony:
“As a panel of dayanim, they came before the three of us sitting together as one;[38] the young men, Zerach Kaplan, Chaim Garnist, and the young man Avraham Mattolski. All these young men were in a regiment of the army of His Imperial Majesty in the Augustow Battalion, and testified before us as follows: Avraham Mattolski stated that he saw with his own eyes how the man Shimon Sapozhnikov took in his hand by force the hand of virgin Mrs. Tz., and with his other hand took a silver coin[39] and thrust it by force into the hand of the woman mentioned above, and then saying to her: “Behold you are sanctified to me according to the law of Moses and Israel,” and then instantly Shimon, mentioned above, jumped on her hand so that she would not throw the coin away. After a few moments (or minutes), Shimon, mentioned above, asked the woman to return the coin or at least show it to all the witnesses, but she did not wish to do so, but instead clasped her hand even tighter. Then Shimon, mentioned above, opened her hand by force, took the coin from her hand and threw it on the table. The other two witnesses, Zerach Kaplan and Chaim Garnist, also testified that they saw Shimon take hold of the hand of the woman, mentioned above, with compulsion, and by force thrust his hand into her hand and said to her “Behold you are sanctified to me according to the law of Moses and Israel,” and after Shimon, mentioned above, had removed his hand from the hand of the woman, mentioned above, he held the woman's hand closed by force. And Shimon, mentioned above, said that he had done so in order that she not throw away the coin that he gave her. Afterwards Shimon asked that she return the coin to him, but she did not listen to his words, rather, she closed her hand even tighter and did not give him the coin. He then opened her hand by force, and from Shimon's hand the coin was flung on the table. Then these last two witnesses said they hadn't made sure to see if Shimon had actually given the coin to the girl or not, they had only seen Shimon thrust his hand into the woman's hand by force. And also afterwards, at the time that Shimon had opened the woman's hand by force, they did not make sure to see if Shimon had removed the coin from her hand or not, because they had not inspected closely to see it with their own eyes. All this the witnesses all testified before us and before the woman Tz., mentioned above, and also before her father. The woman Mrs. Tz. says she held her hand closed all the time walking down the slope of a hill and never saw or felt that any coin had come into her hand. And what the witnesses said, that afterwards that Shimon asked her to give back the coin and that she closed her hand even more tightly, she replied she did that with the intention of showing everyone that her hand was empty and there was nothing in it. The witnesses further testified that before this event occurred they did not speak at all about making a match or a wedding. Afterwards, testimony was collected in the city of Horodna in a Beit Din Tzedek[40] there, how two “kosher”[41] witnesses testified against Avraham Mattolski that long ago they had seen him light a fire, and smoke publicly on the Shabbat, in the presence of Zerach Kaplan and Chaim Garnist, mentioned above, and about these last two witnesses there is gossip that they ate pork. Thus, that testimony was not collected according to the religion and law of Torah. But the testimony against Avraham, mentioned above, was according to the religion and law of Torah.” After paragraph 41 came the signature: Yehuda Leib, Community Rabbi, Augustów.
The Rabbi of Kovno, considered to be the gaon of the generation in the rabbinic world, and a great influence in Russian government circles, was a kind of trusted colleague of Rabbi Gordin of Augustów in the matters of his “Questions and Answers,” who turned to him on difficult matters, and would also visit him in a personal way. The drought of a few years earlier had not yet been forgotten, and had brought significant hunger, and when Pesach arrived the poor people of town had nothing to eat, because the matzot were insufficient. Rabbi Gordin reflected much on the problem and produced a pamphlet in the form of
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a “Responsum.” In the end, the Responsum concluded with permission to use corn (sorghum) and kitniyot[42] in a time of emergency[43] during the days of Pesach. But in this matter the local rabbi didn't want to take upon himself all the responsibility for the mentioned permission, and he turned with a “Question and Answer” to Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan, and he agreed with Rabbi Gordin's decision. In his letter, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan included in his letter praise for the rabbi emphasizing the greatness of his learning, his acuity, and his expertise. The letter from Kovno did much to elevate the reputation of the rabbi in his town, Augustów. The letter passed from hand to hand in groups of the important householders. It is no wonder that with the passing of the Gaon in Kovno in 1896, it was considered in Rabbi Gordon's house as family mourning, and his home was filled with sorrow. The rabbi eulogized the deceased in the Beit Midrash, and enumerated his greatness in the Torah and community activity and the enormity of his loss to Judaism at this time. The Beit Midrash was full to overflowing, and even the women's section was full. The mourning sermon of the rabbi caused tears to flow from the eyes of the women and men. Rabbi Gordin's influence on all the groups was great. Since he was an excellent speaker, he caused them to stream to hear his substantive sermons. The rabbi also succeeded in drawing to him the Maskilim of the town, who were excited at hearing his orations in the Russian language, which was unblemished and rich in expression, that were spoken by him on royal coronation days, when officials of the government and military commanders would also rise early to go to the synagogue in order to hear his sermons.
The Trade and Artisanship in Jewish Hands – Chassidim in Augustów – Jewish Evasion of Induction into the Russian Army – The Beginnings of Socialism – Meetings, Demonstrations and Arrests – The Exodus from Augustów, and Migration to Distant Places |
Augustów, whose honor as regional capital was removed from her on the heels of new instructions from Peterburg, became a district city with many offices, that arose after the completion of the digging of the Augustow Canal. The population in the villages that surrounded the city were wealthy people, strong, tall in stature, strong as oaks, owners of agricultural property and village land. Every Sunday the nobles would come, by wagons and carriages harnessed to horses, into the city to pray at the church. The enlightened Poles and the Russians, who were especially brought, occupied the important posts in the government offices. The trade and most of the artisan-based occupations were in the hands of Jews. Traders in agricultural produce bought large quantities of grain, wheat, and barley, transferring it to Konigsberg and Danzig. Over the course of time, there were also agents and representatives who traded in exporting butter, geese and turkeys to Germany. The economic situation was improved, but black clouds hung in the skies.
It was known that the rioters who had carried out pogroms against the Jews in Russian towns did not do what they did of their own accord, but on orders from on high, from the capital city of Petersburg. It was there for all to see that these wild animals had no terror or fear before their eyes. They carried out their plots in peace, sure that they would not be apprehended for their crimes, and there would be no punishment. Worse: the police and other guards, those responsible for keeping order in the town, were the ones that were disturbing the order and security
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by turning a blind eye to the tricks of the rioters, and were ready and prepared to help them to stir up one part of the residents against the other. The days approaching Pesach were a window of opportunity for the haters of Israel to make baseless accusations, “blood-libels”[44] against the Jews, because at that time it was easy to spread slander and promulgate a rumor about a Christian girl or boy who had disappeared, with the hand of Israel[45] in the middle. In most cases these fabricated stories emanated from their churches, and these fabricated rumors always found for themselves attentive ears among the Polish and Russian unenlightened masses; there were those among them who truthfully believed in their simple hearts all that was told, there were those who knew the truth, but it was convenient for them in this “time of anger”[46] to consume their anger in the Jews, and to enjoy the chaos of a twilight time like this to plunder and loot, to steal Jewish property and to kill and destroy lives from Israel,[47] when the permission was given.
Most of the Jews living in Augustów were religious, and the practices of their ancestors were in their hands. They tended towards the ascetics[48] or the Mitnagdim, the disciples of the Vilna Gaon,[49] who revealed opposition to the Chassidic movement that had arisen during the 18th century. They opposed the rituals and style of prayer and also the way of life of the chassidim.
Only a small group of chassidim lived in Augustów during the second half of the 19th century, and almost all of them were not born in the city, but had come from other cities and towns, near and far. In town there were about two minyanim[50] of chassidim from various dynasties: Gur, Amshinov, Kotzk, Sokolov, Kovrin, Slonim. Each had its own Beit Midrash, that was called by the people of the city “The Beit Midrash of the Chassidim.” They lived in peace among them, in spite of differences in the courts of the Admorim.[51] The Beit Midrash of the Chassidim on the “Street of the Butchers” was the spiritual center for all the chassidim in Augustów. There they would all congregate on Shabbat for prayers. They all would gather there for the “three meals” of Shabbat. Each one brought with him a slice of challah[52] in his pocket. There was always a bottle of brandy ready. Together they would sing hymns and tells stories of the righteous ones of Chassidism. Those who knew to play music would bring new melodies they had heard from the rabbi. They were separated from the rest of the Jewish community of Augustów by their form of prayer, which was according to the Sephardic style, by their faith in “their” rabbi and by their long caftans. They didn't shave their beards or the peyot[53] of their heads. They were strict about the laws of slaughtering and family purity.[54] There were among them outstanding people who knew “hidden wisdom”[55] who studied and pondered the Torah, openly and covertly, day and night. Especially prominent among the people of the kloiz of the chassidim was Rabbi Dovid the Righteous, a tanner, of the Gur chassidim, who sat and learned in the “Shas”[56] Society. He excelled in his dancing ability on Simchat Torah,[57] and many came to watch and enjoy his fine dancing.
The chassidim were laborers, artisans, and small shopkeepers, absorbed by the burden of material support and economics. They were notable for their friendly loyalty and mutual assistance. They were bound and connected to each other, they were interested in and knew the doings in the house of every Chassid, and all of them were always ready to come with advice or help for each other. If there was celebration or joy by one of them, the joy was shared. The opposite was also true; in the event of a tragedy or trouble for one, may the merciful one help us, they all took part and participated in his trouble.
The Jews of Augustów were not exceptional in their negative attitude towards induction into the Russian army. Every Jew made attempts to escape this “hollow of the sling.”[58] The pictures are remembered, when mothers and father, relatives and members of the family assembled at the doorway of the testing house for the army. When a member of their household was accepted for military service, they would raise their voices of outcry and eulogy for the one who was going far away, mostly to the Far East
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to Siberia, to places where no Jewish houses are found. There, he would live like a kind of criminal who was sentenced to hard labor, he would absorb lashes and blows for anything and everything; he was forced to speak in a language not his own, and to forget the customs of his ancestors. He would return – after many years – foreign and strange to the members of his family and his town, with a depressed spirit but with a strong body. It is no surprise that the Jews feared military service so much.
Many young people who were liable for induction were included among those who emigrated abroad. Although it was forbidden for youths of military age to emigrate, the nearness of the Prussian border made it easy for them to overcome this barrier. The evasion reached such magnitude that in 1883 an “appeal to the rabbis of the Suwalki region” went out, warning against it. The author of the appeal was Avraham Barash HaCohain Eizendorf, the inspector of the government Jewish school of Šakiai, Suwalki region. In the appeal, it was written that serious danger hung over the Jewish people because so many of them were evading military service. The rabbis are asked to take care of this problem, and even register before the time of draft the names of the emigres, those that have died, and so on (“The Generation,” 1901). From a list in “Pravitlastvani Visonik,” it becomes clear that out of 637 Jews summoned for induction in Suwalki region in the year 1891, 259 did not appear at all. (“HaMelitz” 1891, issue 45). In 1893, the percentage of Jews who failed to appear for induction in Suwalki was even higher: out of 779 who were summoned to appear for induction, 499 completely failed to respond. In his article “About the Bad Shepherds,” the author Mordechai son of Hillel HaCohain writes that in 1900, 618 who were obligated for induction failed to present themselves to the army council, emphasizing in particular that the number of Jewish youths who evaded induction was greater in areas closer to the border. In the Hebrew “HaMelitz,” a petition came from Sejny to the heads of the community insisting on the erasure of the names of those who had left the city (1895, issue 38). In a second article from that same year it was reported from Sejny that the police were asking for penalties of 300 rubles from families whose sons that were obligated for military induction did not fulfill their civil obligations (1895, issue 287).
Apparently, the Minister of the Suwalki region didn't hate Jews, because at the time that he transferred to Petrikov (1905), representatives of the community parted from him with affection and friendship, presenting him with a silver-bound copy of the Five Books of Moses. In his words to the leaders of the Jews the Minister said, among other things: “Make sure that the Jews don't evade their induction obligation, because this matter will cause you many troubles.” (The “Plas” Poltava 5645 [1885], page 255).
By way of the frontier towns of the Prussian border, goods, people, and also forbidden literature were smuggled, which revolutionary Russian groups of political emigres were sending to Russia from abroad. The interesting fact should be pointed out here, that also the Socialist newspaper “HaEmet”[59] (in Hebrew), whose editor A.S. Liebermann was born in Suwalki, and passed through Peterburg, Moscow, Odessa and other Russian centers on his way to the frontier towns. Liebermann the editor would send his newspaper to Baklerove and from there it was sent to his grandfather, Rabbi Eliezer Dov Liebermann in Suwalki, who made sure that it was forwarded onwards. In a letter from May 7, 1877 A.S. Liebermann writes: “For now, a practical man has already been found who is prepared to receive a reasonable number of copies of periodicals and in a way that is known to him he will transfer them over the border and deliver them to subscribers of a number of cities. He is himself a writer and agent.” K. Marmor, the publisher of “The Writings of A.S. Liebermann” (New York , 1951 page 174), adds that the known writer is Yehuda Vistinski from Baklerove.
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The economic status of Augustów continued to improve with the paving of the Grodno-Suwalki road, which passed through the town. Other roads were also paved, which also contributed to trade connections. Various industrial undertakings were opened up: brickmaking, flourmills, sawmills, cement-works and also the leather factory of Dovid Yurdanski, who employed hundreds of Jewish and Christian workers. The Jews were also tenants, suppliers and marketers to the nobles and private estate owners.
Over the course of time, a non-Jewish class in the city arose and became established, which began to knock the Jews' economic legs out from under them, and the restrictions against them gradually increased. On the heels of this situation, the movement of exodus from Augustów and the surroundings grew, and overseas emigration increased. After this, the nationalist Zionist movement strengthened its influence and imprinted its signature on the life of the Jewish street. At the center of the hopes stood emigration to the lands across the sea, and going up to the land of Israel. There were also limited possibilities, and extreme patience was required over the course to time to arrive at one of the yearned-for goals. As a result of this situation Jewish residence in Augustów decreased. In the year 1897, there were found there only 3,637 Jews in a population of 12,743 souls. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Jewish settlement grew again, and in the year 1909 reached 6,969 Jews, which constituted 59% of the total residents.
The German border was very close to the city, and the Kingdom of Germany did not make it difficult for those who were illegally crossing the border without travel documents. The first pioneers among the emigrants – the success at the ease of the crossing lit up their faces. Over a brief course of time, they were successful in building for themselves a new life, a good life, and so it became possible for them to quickly bring up after them the rest of their family, their relatives, relatives of relatives and even acquaintances and close friends.
Things were happening every day – that townspeople would suddenly get up and leave for America; the people – mostly young, yeshiva students. Most of them, like all of them, were fleeing because of the fear of army service, because of economic hardship, or for political reasons. A woman that would travel, it was usually because she longed for her husband who had already been in America for a few years and had gotten lucky to send her from there a ticket for travel. The emigrants mostly went to the United States and South Africa. The stream of aliyah to the land of Israel was weak.
Representatives of German communities met in Leipzig to consult on how to help the emigrants. Afterwards, representatives of “Alliance Israélite Universelle,” and at their head Adolphe Crémieux, met in Berlin with representatives of German Jewry, and decided to form committees next to the Russian-German border to assist the emigrants. In Konigsberg, a committee was formed under the leadership of the Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Bamberger. The committees that were created in Stettin, Hamburg and Memel developed important work for the settlement of the emigres and the education of wandering youth by means of learning a profession. The committees ceased their activities in 1873, due to a lack of resources.
Jew from Augustów region arrived in America about 115-120 years ago. Already in 1866, the “Charitable Society for the People of Suwalki and the Surroundings ” was founded in New York. The goal was to build a Beit Midrash and give support to those who came out of Suwalki and the surrounding area.
On January 19, 1882, a memorandum was presented from the Russian Jews who dwelt in England to Minister Pobedonostov in Hebrew and Russian, in which they presented various claims for the benefit of the rabbis and students and demanding
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equal rights for the Jews as there were for the rest of the Russians. Among the names who emerged from various cities that appeared as signatories is found also the signature of Barukh Zilberman of Augustów in Hebrew and Russian.
The migration of the Jews sometimes caused family tragedies. Men travelled and forgot the wife and children they had left behind. It was possible to read occasionally in the Jewish and Hebrew newspapers announcements about searches for husbands from Augustow.
On the other hand, there were men and women in Augustów that were living well on the support of their sons and daughters who many years before had wandered over the ocean.
The revolutionary movement in Russia aroused great interest in Poland, which saw the defeat of the Tsar as an opening of hope for her liberation. The Jewish workers, who in society were deprived as both Jews and as workers, were also awakened. In Augustów there were not yet “proletarian” workers, who worked for exploitative “bourgeois” employers. The small employers would exploit themselves and the members of their families in hard labor. The Jewish shoemakers who worked mainly in supplying the Russian army, would employ Christian workers, who over the course of time learned the work and competed with their previous employers when they opened their own workshops. Two tanneries belonging to Yosef Shimon Friedkovski and Yisrael Hagardi (whose wife, Shayne Esther carried the load), employed Christians, and it was the custom in the china and soap factory of Binyamin Lap, from whom it was transferred to Papirovitz. It is no wonder, therefore, that before the Revolution there were no socialists as such in Augustów, although it is possible that there were a few who showed interest solely from a theoretical aspect.
At the beginning of 1905, the revolt against the Tsarist regime in Russia broke out. In all the big cities, there were battles between the workers and the police, and acts of terror against the government officials. In Augustow they would read this news in the newspapers - “HaMaggid,” “HaMelitz,” “HaTzefirah,” which were received by a few householders in Augustów, of the groups of Maskilim and Chovevei Tzion. They read the news and thought that nothing would happen here. Although the shoemakers and the tailors began to feel that their assistants were vanishing in the middle of the day, but they didn't see much of an issue in that.
But slowly, the eyes of the local young people were opened, and not necessarily from among the workers alone, but also among groups of householders and the wealthy. At the head of the revolutionary movement in Jewish Augustów stood several of the intelligentsia who led and educated the youth for revolution, such as Chava Frenkel (the daughter of the writer, Yaakov Frenkel), who was a popular speaker; Chaya Markus (a member of a veteran Zionist family), whose father was a great scholar and whose brothers were Zionists; Natan Varhaftig (son of the lord); Varhaftig (owner of the mill) who tended towards anarchy; Avram'eleh Glikson (the son of Chaim and his mother of the house of Sperling); Shmerl Krinitzki. On Shabbatot, they held propaganda meetings, and they organized meetings and assemblies secretly in the forests of Augustów. The propaganda was arranged by the “Bund[60]” and the anarchists. The “Bund” (founded in Vilna in 1897) was a Socialist Jewish party in the exile. In Russia, it was illegal, but nevertheless succeeded in developing extensive work. Following the Russian-Japanese war and the first Russian Revolution, the “Bund” grew, and the number of its members was counted in tens of thousands. Its aims were: a professional war to improve the working conditions of the Jewish workers; a political war for the defeat of the Tsars; the imposition of democracy; the achievement of equal rights for the masses of the Jewish people. It saw the Yiddish language as the sole national language
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of the Jewish people. They called Hebrew “a dead language,” Zionism – “Jewish nationalism.” They fought stubbornly against, and with great hatred for, both of them.
Anarchism espouses the negation of every State and government, and aspires to establish a free society of individuals or groups with no leadership and without coercive force; a society based on free agreement protected by goodwill. Anarchism negates not only a state regime, but all government; control of the many by the few, the obligation of the minority to submit to the majority, public discipline. It considers the important of the destruction of the State above all else, because on its ruins it is possible to establish perfect anarchic order. The first two “chassidim” of anarchism in Augustów were still during the period of the rabbinate of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gordin – his two sons, Abba and Ze'ev. The rabbi was wanted by the authorities because of his knowledge of the Russian language and his leanings towards a regime that “loves justice and benevolence.” And precisely his sons were extreme in their systems of socialism and their preaching of anarchy that in Russia was considered extremist and extremely dangerous. Every interaction with anarchism brought after it exile to Siberia, if not the death penalty.
In the city, the face of a new Yiddish newspaper was seen, by the name of “Der Verker.”[61] In it, Jewish cultural autonomy was spoken of, and of direct secret elections. The intelligentsia read “Der Verker” with interest, and would teach the workers to understand the difficult words, the new, strange ideas.
From the big cities there began to arrive party speakers. In the beginning, they spoke in hidden places, hiding in the forests that were close to town, and a little later they began to appear in the city as well. People from the local “Bund” would burst into the “Great Beit Midrash” without the permission of the sextons, close the doors, and hold a meeting or a lecture.
The town was flooded with illegal literature, pamphlets, proclamations and calls to strikes, to fight against the Tsar, against reactionism, for freedom and equality. Many meetings were held in the forests, and they began to prepare for the establishment of self-defense. They were gathering money for this purpose, and if someone did not give willingly, they took it by force. The faces of the Jews, who were always worried about the next day, became gloomy. In the city, police were seen with bayonets on their rifles. The householders and the middle class confined themselves to their homes and envisioned with fear what the day would bring. In the meantime, reactionism grew. Information about pogroms against the Jews of Bialystok and other cities had already begun to arrive.
The day of publication of the famous “Constitution” arrived. Everyone was happy. The old people claimed that it wouldn't end well, and the Tsar, with his experience of “with a strong hand,” would not surrender quickly before a handful of inexperienced young men and women. The anarchists carried out in the city an armed attack against an important factory. The fear in town of what was to come grew greater and greater. With the declaration of the “Constitution,” they celebrated the “victory” in Augustów as well. The youth organized a public demonstration with flags. They filled the large market square, and even occupied the adjoining streets.
But a few days afterwards, a reaction against it began from the side of the police and the army. In the city, searches began for the leaders of the Revolution; many were caught and served time in prison for their transgressions. The Tsar's regime increased their enforcement. As in all of Russia, the Revolution was stamped out here as well. Many of the youth left the city, and emigrated overseas. Augustów began to miss her youngsters who had left her and were gone.
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The year 1905 left a deep furrow in the hearts of the Jews. After the suppression of the Revolution, the winds slowly calmed down, but an awakening had begun in the Jewish lives. Under the pressure of the events, the Jews of Augustów had become more politically mature.
The workers' organizations continued their activities, if in secret, from fear of an “evil eye.”[62] The Zionist movement went back and forth among the people. The idea of building Zion and Jerusalem aroused great interest in the hearts.
The Enlightenment Movement – Yaakov Frenkel- Yisrael Ze'ev Sperling – Citron, Sh.L., Teacher of Hebrew – The Teacher and Writer Tz. Z. Weinberg |
The “Enlightenment” – the spiritual stream that wished to introduce the beauty of Yaphet into the tents of Shem,[63] quickly began to strike roots in Augustów region. While among most of the residents in the “Pale of Settlement ” a “Maskil” was still a rare thing, there already were in the cities and in the towns of this region Maskilim that fulfilled a role in the life of the Jewish communities. In Augustów there were found a number of Maskilim that served with two crowns as one, that of the Enlightenment and that of literature. Of them, Yisrael-Ze'ev Sperling and Yaakov Frenkel found a place at the head.
Yaakov Frenkel was a shop owner for textile products in the city, and his Torah was not his craft. In the synagogue, he sat next to the eastern wall, which was reserved everywhere for distinguished people, exalted in wealth and in spirit. He published a poem in Hebrew with many stanzas, with came to disparage a zealous rabbi who debates at length on one passage in the Gemara[64] “he fell from the top of a roof and was thrust into a woman,”[65] and other poems that were published in Hebrew magazines of that time.
Yisrael-Ze'ev ben Naftali Sperling, a Maskil, author, and translator, officiated as the government-appointed rabbi of the town. He managed the registration books of marriages, births and divorces; translated from French to Hebrew the well-known utopia[66] of the French author Jules Verne (1828-1905) by the name “In the Depths of the Sea”[67] (Warsaw 1876), and the book “In the Belly of the Earth”[68] by that same author (Warsaw, 5638-1838). Sperling knew four languages inside and out: Russian, Polish, German and French.
At the beginning of the book “In the Depths of the Sea” a letter from his friend from his city, Yaakov Frenkel, is printed:
“Your copy found favor in my eyes; with the clear language you chose for yourself, and in the style of its pure and simple language, that every reader will understand, even if he has not learned it well. May your hands be strengthened, and be very successful in Hebrew literature, to which you have dedicated the time of your life into ripe old age. May your arms be strengthened to give us other useful compositions like these, to teach the youth of our people to understand and comprehend[69] the mystery of the secrets of nature. It is my hope that like me, all lovers of the language of Ever[70] and who are endeared to our literature will cherish you, and that you will come to your reward in peace.”
In his forward “To the readers,” the translator announces that pending publication is another book by the name of “Wisdom is Profitable to Direct”[71] in two parts, approved of as good and useful by Rabbi Chaim-Zelig Slonimski, the editor of “HaTzefirah,” but it was not published.
At the beginning of the book “In the Belly of the Earth” the writer A.D. Liebermann enumerates praise for the translator: “…extraordinary insight is added to the translator to clarify and unite his translation, to hone and sharpen every idiom and expression, to the extent that it
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presents its face with greater force, according to the judgement of most readers with good taste. You are fortunate, my friend, that you chose for yourself Ori Yeshara, who is splendid as a doer and a magnificent person. You are blessed and blessed is your taste, for you have a palate to discern what is good, and what is loved and desired by each and every person. And now, arise and excel in Hebrew literature, expand it and glorify it, and become a name and praise among the lovers of the lashon kodesh[72] and those who are gifted in it and hold on to its covenant.”
He is also remembered for good by the writer Y. S. Weiss (Yehoshua Halivni) in his book “Tiltulei Gever”[73] (Tel Aviv 5691 [1931]).
The writer Weiss spent two days in Augustów. In his book of travels, he describes in his conclusion, in a few lines, the city and its surroundings; that the journey at the end of the summer there is extremely pleasant, and especially when it passes through primeval forests alongside the many rivers and year-round streams. He declares that he will never forget the wonderful sight that he saw as twilight fell on the bridge suspended by its iron chains above the river Bóbr, which is near Augustów, surrounded on both banks by tall pine trees that are reflected in the ruddy waters like legendary giants, and all the river then seems like a river of fire.[74] A wonderful image as this, he had never seen in all his days. From Augustów he travelled to Suwalki by way of a shaded thick forest.
Sh. L. Citron[75] was born in Minsk. He was a teacher-pedagogue, and a young Zionist writer for whom a reputation in our literature had already emerged. Zionism and Chibbat Tzion[76] became the substance of his life, and he wrote a number of books that were full of interest. He was invited as a Hebrew teacher to the home of the wealthy and educated Varhaftig, who was one of the “faces” in the city, a wealthy man, owner of steam and water mill just outside of town, that was found outside of the city, not far from the army barracks buildings. The Varhaftig family dwelt next to the mill in a fine house that resembled a palace, in the middle of a garden in which a proud peacock with multicolored feathers paraded and strutted pleasurably. From Augustów, Citron would send his articles to various newspapers. It seems that the city found favor in his eyes, and he endeavored to mention the name of the city of Augustow, from time to time, in books that he wrote. He moved from Augustów to Suwalki where he founded a “Cheder Metukan,”[77] and engaged in teaching and the dissemination of Hebrew Zionism. His house was the center for all of Chovevei Tzion and Hebrews in the city. After a year, Citron moved to Mariampol, but returned to Suwalki, where he married a woman and was head of a private school there until 1897.
Tzvi Zevulun Weinberg, a writer and Hebrew educator, learned in cheder and yeshiva and in pedagogical courses in Grodno. He engaged in the instruction of Hebrew subjects in Augustów. He was one of the founders of the “Association of Hebrew Writers and Journalists ” in Poland, and for some time also its Chairman. In 1934, he went up to the land of Israel and served in teaching. His first story, “Nisayon,”*[78] was published in “Kolot”[79] in Vilna (1905). Since then his stories were published in various Hebrew magazines. He was among the editors of the monthly “Kolot”[80] and “Rishon.”[81] His realistic stories describe the life of Jews in Poland and, after his aliyah to the land of Israel, the land of Israel experience.
Rabbi Avraham Shiff was also counted among the writers in the city, born in Yashinovka, who dwelt in Augustów for a number of years and composed many books. At the beginning of the book “ K'vod HaTorah VeChachameha”[82] were approvals from the great Geonim and Rabbis, among them Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk and Rabbi Moshe Betzalel Luria of Suwalki, who referred to him with various respectful honorifics.
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