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1. Avraham Tzuch, 2. Isaac Fox z”l, 3. Faybel Schleider (Kallay), 4. Yaakov Garbel, 5. Pesia Tzimer z”, 6. Hana Meler z”, 7. Natan (Neta) Wollman z”, 8. Mordechai Galer, 9. David Galer, 10. Hella Halper (Hamenachem), 11. Aharon Galer z”, 12. Aharon Kreuthammer (Kruvi), 13. Tzippora Redlich (Ben Tov), 14. Yitzchak (Ichela) Blum z”, 15. Leib (Arieh) Beker The people in the middle row (from the right) Israel Heftler, Herschel Shevadron z”, (?), Mechla Gross z”, Hersh Gross z”, Aharon Katz z”, (?), (?), Mordechai Halper.

The retreat of Nicolai's troops left behind devastation and destruction in all the Jewish quarters in the cities of eastern Galicia. The Jewish refugees who fled their homes because of the fear of the Cossacks and Circassians began to slowly return to their homes at the end of the war. Tired and destitute, they began to rebuild their lives in the destroyed town. But the youth did not find their place here; those who were forced to stop their studies and enlisted at the age of 17-18 in the Austrian army to fight a war that was not theirs. They came back depressed and disgruntled and could not continue the routine life of their parents. Furthermore, they found in front of them that the youth of the neighboring nations were a chauvinist, nationalist youth, who considered the Jewish youth as a foreign element within themselves and tried to take their place and persecute them. The youth were looking for a way out. There were those who immediately turned to immigration to countries that seemed to be open to them, or they had a connection in North America or South America in the form of a relative, friend or an acquaintance.

The Balfour Declaration to establish a national home for Jews in the Land of Israel breathed life into the youth during the period of turmoil and pressure, but how will they travel to Israel?

And one day a large, broad-shouldered, bespectacled boy who had just returned with his parents from Vienna appeared in the town. There he studied and graduated from high school, was active in a Zionist youth organization, the Hashomer Hatzair Organization, which was founded in Vienna by refugee youth from the Jews of Galicia, who found refuge in the capital of the Austrian monarchy. The guy spoke Hebrew with a Sephardic accent, a great innovation in those days, and was full of energy for action. This guy was Lunick Allweil, now known as the painter and teacher Arieh Allweil.

Allweil organized and gathered around him the best of the youth. He divided them into groups according to their age and appointed the older ones as group leaders over the younger ones, organized lessons in the Hebrew language, introduced an outfit (the scout outfit) and Zionist national symbols and provided the youth with a matter that interested them. This is how the “Hashomer Hatzair” union was established in Bobrka, a living, vibrant Histadrut.

It seemed as if the youngsters were reborn. They devoted themselves completely to the movement: the Zionist idea and the great vision of the rise of the Jewish people in their own country, in the land of their ancestors. And with all the fervor of their youth, they devoted themselves to the idea of Zionist fulfillment and Aliyah. Agricultural training groups and study groups of various professions were organized.

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Arieh Allweil himself arranged a shoemaking workshop in his home and added two other guys to him, Shimon Breitfeld z” and David Katz, may he live long life, (now lives in the United States). They bought all the necessary tools and started repairing shoes. One day a Jew wearing dirty boots came to their workshop, as if he had deliberately waded through puddles of mud, and asked them to repair his boots. “Where are the boots torn,” asked the cobbler? “You've asked a good question! You are the cobbler and I have to tell you where the boots are torn?” “You are right,” says Allweil. He took the boots, entered the kitchen for a moment, filled the boots with water and returned. “What have you done?” asked the Jew. “I wanted to see where the holes through which the water penetrated were,”- answered Allweil.

Those who used to lend a hand and help their parents in their businesses in trade and crafts slowly began to renounce their positions and devoted their time to the movement - something that caused a general revolt among the parents. The yeshiva students who sat and studied Gemara in the Beit Midrash ordered some of Walkowski's scripts from Krakow, a method for learning Hebrew by correspondence, and kept the booklets inside the Gemara - this was also to the dismay of the parents.

It should be mentioned that the Jews of Bobrka were all religious, some of them were enthusiastic Chassidim of the Rabbi of Belz, the Rabbi of Chortkiv and of the Rabbi of Stratyn, Reb Yitzchak Isaac Langner, who, in our honor, chose to live in our town. If the parents were somehow still willing to give up the help of their sons and daughters in their businesses, then they were not at all ready for the sons to deviate from the path of their fathers, and all those “games of scouting and Zionism” did not appeal to them. There were also those who declared a “holy war” against the youth movement and everything in it that had a connection with Zionism and demanded the compliance of the verse: “Don't turn after your heart - Ir zol nisht nachgein Ayer Herzl” (and later they added: “And after your eyes - Iyer kook”).

At the house of Arieh Allweil - pioneers learning shoemaking From the right: David Katz Arieh Allweil, Shimon Breitfeld z”

Even in such an atmosphere it was necessary to continue and nothing was an obstacle, as the those who made the decision to go were determined.

In April, the first person left our town. Moshe Wind joined the pioneers' group from Lviv. Two months later, in June 1920, a group of seven from our town, headed by Arieh Allweil, immigrated, and in July of that year (on the Ninth of Av), the larger group immigrated, headed by Avraham Buni (Avraham) Tzuch, who currently serves as a librarian at the “Shaari Zion” library in Tel Aviv.

After them came many groups and individuals. Our guys became involved in all areas of life in the country: among the kibbutz and moshav people, among laborers and clerks, among teachers, professors and university lecturers.

The departure of the first pioneer, Moshe Wind, to Israel, on January 1920

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First row, from the right: Moshe Gimple, Hirsch Nas z”, Dov (Barel) Beker, Pesach Kramer (Molcho), Moshe Wind Middle row: Shlomo Nas, Shmaul Feder Bottom row: Mordechai Itzik Kol, Moshe Blum (deceased), Yaakov Garbel

A living body can be recognized by the pulse. The youth constitute this pulse in public and national life. It is a one-of-a-kind body, a living, vibrant and provoking body. It is a body that brings life and activity, a body which is the foundation for the future of each and every public.

If you wish to get to know a certain environment, a city, a town, or a village, you should follow the boys and see their actions, games and pastimes.

And the same is true in relation to our town of Bobrka. Our youth were a youth with full Jewish and national recognition. These youth were active and activated others; these youth were vibrant and provoked others and brought life to a dormant town far from main transportation routes. There was hardly a boy or girl who did not belong to a youth organization. And there were many different youth organizations. All Zionist political life, all Israeli parties found expression in the various youth clubs and the various youth movements.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that all the young people were organized. Sometimes, the organizational affiliation to an organization of a unique style was accidental, but the differences were not at all fundamental, since all of them were captured by the national movement in all its shades and manifestations.

The influx to the youth movements was understandable. It was almost the only matter that occupied the young people's minds and only in it, could they find its expression and its relief. The Jewish economy was slowly dying and there were almost no livelihood opportunities for the young people. In this area they were almost unnecessary. The parents, in most cases, did not need the young people's help in the shop or the workshop and therefore the big question that hovered before the young people's eyes was what to do, how to “pass” the time and how to busy themselves. This deep and serious question gnawed at the depths of the young people's heart. There was no more room for the young people in the town. They felt as if everything was locked for them and the only hope was the Land of Israel and therefore the intense longings were understandable.

And the youth flocked to the youth organizations. During the day the young people ran around the streets without contentment and with no interests, but when evening came, all the clubs were immediately filled with young men and women- and they came to life. The youth who were on the brink of despair were filled with the contentment of life and faith. The young people began to believe that a day would come and they would have the privilege of immigrating to Zion and in it they would redeem their lost soul, and in it they would find the proper way of life for them.

And indeed, from the club came fierce and new songs. These folk songs were in all languages, with a common theme: intense longing for Zion. The singing swept everyone into one circle. And so, the young people suddenly found their expression. The singing and dancing breathed new life into them; it instilled in them the belief in tomorrow, in a better future, and above all, faith in themselves.

The folk songs were in Yiddish, Hebrew and even Ukrainian. These were songs brought by guests from the country, which described

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the lives and struggles of the pioneers in Israel, such as, “Wen wen zingat a halutz” and there were songs in Ukrainian whose first words were, “It is hard to live in a foreign land…”. This last song was particularly influential. It reinforced the tragic feeling of being a foreigner, although we were born in these towns and our ancestors lived and died in them. The feeling was of living in a foreign country, in a land not ours, that sooner or later, would be necessary- and even imperative to leave.

The club also took care of the young man's intellectual progress. In the club the young people could establish a newspaper. And it was not a minor thing in those days. Today this may seem ridiculous because there is a newspaper in every house. But then, in the thirties, it was a serious problem. Newspaper subscriptions such as the Warsaw newspapers “Heint” and “Moment”, as well as a subscription for the Lviv newspapers “Tagblat”, or the “Kavila”, were a great financial burden. Only a joint and great financial effort could lead to a subscription for a newspaper.

In this way, the club, or as it was called by all of us at the time, the “Farein”, was the one and only connection with the outside world. It was possible to find dozens of readers for one newspaper and the Shabbat or Holiday newspapers served the readers for many weeks. By the way, an interesting detail: to reduce the financial expense, they used to sell “reading hours”. The newspaper was received in the morning. A considerable “delegation” of young people waited to receive it in the morning as soon as Galushka, the carrier of the letters left the post office, and the newspaper was immediately handed over to private readers for “reading hours”. The newspaper arrived to the club only in the evening.

Study groups were also held in the youth movements. Every educated person who happened to be in the town, whether a commercial or high school student who came to spend his vacation from studying at home, or a new resident in the form of a “Torah scholar” who settled in the town was immediately harnessed with the burden of giving lessons in a profession in which he could contribute something. The thirst for knowledge was so big that people flocked to the classes and they were full.

From time to time there was a lecture on daily matters. The lecture attracted many. Even adults and also members of other youth movements came to hear it. An evening of a lecture was an evening of celebration and an evening of spiritual uplifting. We remember well the heated debates that these lectures provoked. The debaters put all their heart and soul into it. Finally, the young people found an interest and they wanted to exhaust it to the end.

The organizations were varied and numerous. There were “seasonal” organizations, which only existed for a short time. They appeared and disappeared and reappeared after a while in new form or in the previous format. And there were organizations that lasted and existed for many years, almost until World War II broke out.

All Israeli parties were represented in our town. It was possible to find the following youth movements: Hashomer Hatzair, Boslia, Gordonia, HeChalutz (general movement), Achava, HaMizrachi, Beitar and after the split of Meir Grossman from the revisionist movement, even the alliance of zealots. Everyone demanded their share and everyone had something to attract the youth - with the promise of granting an Aliyah permit (certificate). This was the “magic word”, the most valuable promise, and the movement that could keep its promises usually won the largest number of members.

The most beautiful and even the most interesting season was the period in which the pioneers operated and worked from other places in the training companies. Almost every movement made sure that it would have “training” in Bobrka. This added respect and prestige to the place. The “guest” pioneers were engaged in all the jobs that came their way and did not refrain from any job. They competed with the professional woodcutters and sometimes even with the water cleaners. They, the pioneers, those who came to prepare and train themselves for the immigration, to prepare themselves for the suffering and discomfort of the future life in Israel, brought vitality into the town. These were young men and women who seemed to have lifted off all burdens, who seemingly aspired to change values and were considered the “reformers of the world” and they came to Bobrka as a fresh and vibrant force and swept everyone into their eager anticipation. It was considered an honor for a Jew in Bobrka to host a pioneer from one of the various training points.

“Pioneers Came to Town” - that was the slogan. It strengthened the young people, gave them energy and encouraged them to go out to the training, to work and toil, to believe and find contentment in life. And this was helpful. And these efforts had desirable results. The young people worked, lived and believed. They believed that a day would come when the settlement of Zion, its kibbutzim and cities, would take them in and give them opportunity and a place to live as free people in their free homeland.

Only a few were privileged to do so. Only fortunate, virtuous individuals were privileged to fulfill their dream. They immigrated to Israel. They went to establish and to build up, and they fulfilled their vision. They lived in cities and villages and were involved in the areas of economy, science and in all areas of creativity.

The others, and they were the many, were not privileged to fulfill their dream. They remained in Bobrka until the harvester came upon the House of Israel and cut the young tree - the dreaming and longing young people of Bobrka -along with their parents, relatives and millions of our brothers and sisters, who were annihilated.

The few who survived the inferno scattered throughout the great world, and remnants also arrived in Israel. They were absorbed into the homeland.

The majority stayed in Bobrka. Slaughtered, burned and buried alive, they sanctify God's name together there with millions of brothers and sisters from the house of Israel.

The memory of those who yearned for Zion, the memory of those who prayed in the various houses of prayer with Chassidic devotion “Uva Lezion Goel” (and here came a “redeemer to Zion”, and the memory of those who sang “Beshuv Elohim et Shivat Zion” (in the return of the Lord the return of Zion) and “Anu Olim Artza” (we immigrate to the land of Israel), with the fervor of Kabbalists, will not be forgotten forever.

Let this list be a mark of friends with whom we dreamed, longed and together wove the thread of dreams. We will always respect their memory!

Standing from the right: Dov Beker, Aharon Katz, Arieh Allweil, Michael Zohari Kneeling: (?), Hania Shrayar, Shimon Breitfeld z” Sitting: Pesach Kramer (Molcho), Moshe Leib Tzuch z”

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World War I ended abruptly. The Austrian army disarmed and its soldiers returned without regime and without order in groups and individuals, each to his home. The young Ukrainian nationalists in our town raised their heads and treated the policemen and government representatives with impudence. They raised their national flag and declared Ukrainian rule in Galicia. The tempered indeed planned riots among the Galician Jews, but reason prevailed and no blood was shed. But Jewish property was no man's land.

Meanwhile, a war broke out between the Ukrainians and the Poles over the rule of Galicia and each side promised rights and good treatment to the Jewish residents in order to gain their sympathy. The Poles gained the upper hand and they forgot their promises. On the contrary, they treated the Jews rudely; the Heller troops cut off beards of the Jews and sometimes tore out their hair along with the flesh. They recruited young Jews for forced labor, such as washing the floors in their barracks or to clean their yards.

The Balfour Declaration was announced by the British government in the midst of the war and we, who were subjects of the other side of the divide, could not show outward signs of joy. We therefore conquered our joy in our hearts and waited for a window of opportunity.

In the beginning, the Ukrainian government granted some rights to the Jews in Galicia; a sort of national committee was established with its seat in Stanislav. The youth were ready for action but lacked a leading hand. The anvil was waiting for the hammer.

In those days, refugees who had stayed during the war time in Vienna, Budapest and Prague began to return to the town. Among the returnees, a broad-shouldered, bespectacled young man returned to the city, in an outfit of a high school student, Lunick Allweil was his name.

Lunick Allweil brought with him a lot of experience from the youth movement he had been a member of during his years in Vienna. He didn't just bring with him experience. He probably also brought with him great organizational power, and above all he brought with him a great desire to create something and also to establish fertile ground for his action.

Lunick gathered around him several young people who studied in the Beit Midrash and also young people from the working youth. He organized the youth into groups. He guided the older ones himself, and for the younger ones he appointed group leaders from among the older ones to guide them. He founded groups to study Hebrew, engaged the youth in sports, trips and conversations - he founded a movement - within a few weeks the “Hashomer Hatzair” movement was established in the city.

The movement regime was like the scout movement format: a regime of slogans, (ten commandments), and smoking and drinking were forbidden. And like a miracle- guys who were addicted to smoking abandoned smoking and changed their way of life. Every member of “Hashomer” had to perform a “good” deed every day, to “be aware of the words they say” and to follow similar slogans. The economic situation was very bad and many were in need. We opened a community center. The members of “Hashomer” made tea and spread bread with jam for all those in need. For the elderly or the “shy” privileged ones, the portion was brought to their home. On Fridays and Saturdays, the members of “Hashomer” passed through all the houses of the town to collect challah and bread for the community center. The movement knew about sick people lying in bed in houses without heating. The members of “Hashomer” passed sledges to collect wood for those in need during winter.

And the truth must be said: the parents were against the movement. First, the movement cut off the boys and girls from the home that needed their help. And second, most of the trainees came from pious homes and the parents were afraid that their sons would be removed from the path of their ancestors. Nevertheless, they could not oppose the actions of the boys and girls in the movement. Their actions were exemplary in their devotion. The personal example served as a model. The classes were abolished. The partitions were destroyed, a kind of popular Chassidic movement was created in which Chassidic music played a significant role. The son of the tailor and the son of the merchant were in the same group as the son of the leader of the community. It was a movement of mutual help, of supporting the weak and those in need.

We arranged a joint fund. We held balls, we presented the play “Yosef's Sale”. The director was Azriel the carpenter, we did not know where he studied this profession.

We studied and taught Hebrew. We learned the geography of the Land of Israel. We heard stories about “Hashomer”. We sang Hebrew songs and the songs of Eretz Israel in every language we came across. We walked, we sang, we argued and we dreamed of immigration to the Land of Israel.

We dreamed and studied. With enthusiasm and innocence, we approached the realization of the idea in practice. First, we learned the difficult crafts: cutting wood and portage. Old men and boys flocked from all corners of the town to witness with their own eyes how “crazy” boys, from good families, sons of affluent and rich houseowners engaged in the work of the Gentiles. And there were homeowners who gave us the job on purpose, either because our work was cheaper or for ideological reasons. Little by little the number of mockers decreased, and the opponents got used to it and accepted the situation.

Lunick Allweil opened a shoemaking workshop in his home and two

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members, David Katz (in the United States) and Shimon Breitfeld z”, worked there with him. Other members studied other professions such as printing, sewing, carpentry, etc.

But our ambition and goal were real agricultural work.

The Jewish estate owners were not very enthusiastic about this idea. They did not believe that the young people of Israel were capable of working hand in hand with the sons of Esau, who had been accustomed to the agricultural work since childhood, for many generations.

And Mr. Leder, the Jewish owner of the estate (or lessee of the estate) in the village of Shechlaki (Strilaki as it was called by the Jews) near Bobrka, who agreed to hire the first group of pioneers to work on his estate, will be remembered favorably. He soon found out that the students of the Beit Midrash do not fall short in the quality of their work from the “Stachs” and the “Ivans”.

The fate of the second group of pioneers improved. Mr. Leinwand, the lessee of the farm in Kalinka (near Sasov) was in a grief period and wanted to keep saying the Kaddish. What did he do? He invited a group of pioneers to work on his farm, according to the advice of Pesach Kramer's brother (today Pesach Molcho in Haifa), a relative, who worked as the manager of the schnaps brewery on the farm in Kalinka. Our boys worked in all kinds of work in the yard and in the field, in plowing and harvesting, and we also worked in threshing together with two other sons of Esau. The Gentiles treated us with respect.

The living conditions for the training were difficult. The place of residence was in the granary or in the attic of the horse stables. I don't remember exactly what the wages were. But one thing I remember is that it was tiny and not big enough for real existence. We worked hard; we were tired but the joy rested upon our residence. We felt the rest of the Shabbat. We sang and danced, we argued about Judaism and humanity, about Zionism and socialism, about a life of toil and hardworking, about living together and mutual help, about the relationship of man to man and the relationship of member to member.

We had a difficult war with our parents when we had to go to training. However, the main war started while we were making the actual preparations for the Aliyah to the Land of Israel. It should be noted that this was the beginning of the third Aliyah. Traveling to the Land of Israel meant traveling to the unknown. And although there were many good members who did not stand the test, they surrendered and dropped out.

In May 1920, the first group left. Arieh Allweil, Shimon Breitfeld, Berel Beker, Michael Zohari, Moshe Leib Tzuch, Pesach Kramer, Hania Shreyar, and I think that Miriam Yaget z” also left in the same group (Moshe Wind left three months before with a group from Lviv).

In July 1920 (on the 9^th of Av), a larger group left (Kalinka group) and arrived in Israel on August 28, 1928.

It is appropriate to mention here the mistake made by the movement. The young “Hashomer” movement that was established in Galicia in a short time was an exemplary movement, a bustling movement full of life and action, but the leaders did not think about its continuation. They all immigrated to Israel and the ranks of the movement thinned out. And it is true that a large decrease was felt for several years. It was only in the late twenties that the pioneer movement was revived and this time with greater momentum guided by emissaries who came from Israel.

A right can be transferred by an entitled person. Rabbi Abramchi Fisher comments: It is sublime from among us how hidden the ways of the Supreme Providence are. Look at the broad achievement and the depth of the greatness of the pioneer youth movement that displaced the children of Israel from their ancestral homes and from their land of residence, took them through many countries and times and planted them in their estate in the land of their ancestors for eternity. What was the fate of those who did not stand the test, surrendered and dropped out? They all perished and no trace of them remained, no one was saved. Even those who emigrated to welfare states, so to speak, also died. One died at a young age and the other died by a strange tragic death.

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From right: Top: Dora Karten, Itke Gottlieb, Yaakov (Kuba) Allweil, Pesach Zimmer, Hillel Allweil, Nissan Shamir, Chaim Mel, H. Katz In the middle: Kupferberg, Dr. Chachkes, Sarah Allweil, Shmuel Schacht, Israel Gimple, Zalman Gira Below: Hana Shrayar, Feibel Schleider, Hirsch Nas z”, A. Gross

The Balfour Declaration in 1917 breathed a spirit of hope into the hearts of the young people of Beit Israel who wondered and asked themselves - where should we go? The desire to immigrate to Israel was very strong, but in order to accomplish this, more than courage was needed. The war was raging in all its might. All the roads that led to Jerusalem were blocked and there were many borders, and a great sea stood as an obstacle on the way.

In the meantime, I was invited by the guards of the throne of the House of Habsburg to come to the aid of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was somewhat shaken and about to collapse. It was impossible to refuse and I went reluctantly but I wasn't useful. In 1918 the end was near. I returned to Bobrka and found chaos. Gangs of Ukrainian thugs swarmed the streets and ran amok in the cities. They recruited young people (as well as adults) for forced labor. First to clean the streets and then to dig - dig defense trenches. They gave us speeches that we would rescue the Ukrainian homeland from the Poles.

They forcibly removed us from the house and dragged us to perform rescue work “for the benefit of the homeland” and we arrived near the city of Stryi. They placed us on the front line of the war. The Poles opened fire on us with machine guns and only by a miracle did we have no casualties. Fortunately, the matter did not last many days. The Ukrainians were forced to retreat and we dreamed of defection plans when we will be closer to our town. Our friend Moshe Wind, who worked with us (he worked as a clerk in the office) prepared identification cards for each of us, signed with the seals of the Ukrainian authority, since it was impossible to move from place to place without certificates.

The escape began when we reached the village of Podhorodišč: luckily for us we passed the front lines without incident, except for one unpleasant incident. In the fields at the entrances to the town, one of our guys (it was Israel Mendel Beigel) was caught by a Polish patrol guard and he was arrested and accused of being a spy and they were going to execute him by shooting. The city was in turmoil. There were running around and efforts, crying and begging, prayers and reciting psalms in the Beit Midrash and “moving graves”. Only the intervention of the Rabbi of Stratyn, Reb Yitzchak Isaac Langner, and the payment of a large ransom annulled the decree.

The town was full of soldiers of General Haller's gangs, who were educated in America and came to save Poland. They robbed Jewish property, amused themselves by plucking the beards of the Jews and sometimes also uprooted the flesh of the cheeks with the hair of the beard.

The youth felt the taste of exile and saw that he had no future in this country. A miracle happened to the youth of our town. One of our guys named Lunick Allweil, now Arieh Allweil, a painter in Tel Aviv, returned from Vienna with a rich experience in youth life such as: “Hatzofe”, “Hashomer Hatzair” and approached to found a youth movement in our town. He gathered around him several young people from the older ones, such as: Avraham Tzuch, Moshe Blum and also from the younger ones such as: Michael Shein, Feibel Schleider and founded a glorious Hashomer Hatzair organization. The youth began to learn Hebrew and study professions. Immediately, training groups were founded that worked in Strilaki, Kalinka, Halbovitsa and within one year (in 1920) about forty people immigrated to Israel in three waves. I was also lucky to be in the ranks of the youth

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which were organized in every way. They took care of obtaining passports for the members and often also provided money for travel expenses. Not a few days passed and I found myself on the way to Eretz Yisrael in a group of pioneers from the city of Shecheritz. The group was headed by our hometown boy David Vidrich.

Immigrating to Israel was not easy at all. The Poles wouldn't let us leave their country and the Czechs wouldn't let us enter theirs. And when we crossed the Czech border, they gave us a “state reception” in Orderberg: they took our passports and banned us. We sat in the Czech Republic for a month and waited for new passports. In Vienna we waited in line for our immigration, as there were many before us. The people of Israel were not ready and did not provide the necessary means for the immigration.

In the city of Vienna, we were scattered in the houses of the people of the city who settled here during the war. We ate our meals in soup kitchens. Only after a six-week stay in Vienna did we leave for Trieste.

Here we found out that the sailors were on strike because of poor working conditions. The community committee took care of our lodging and food for the ten days we stayed in Trieste.

From Trieste we sailed on the ship “Tyrol”. To us, this was the ship on which Marco Polo sailed on his great journey to China. Our lodging was on the deck, crowded like salted fish in a can.

When I read in the newspapers nowadays how immigrants are treated today, I am bursting with envy. Messengers are sent to meet them to accompany them on their way, to take care of them and entertain them. They are brought up in airships, on ships in cabins, and they are fed from the ship's kitchens. Who knew about a cabin on a ship? Who knew about cooked food? All we ate was biscuits with tinned meat (infested with worms) and half a liter of fresh water per person per day. Who was interested in us when we wallowed for twenty-one days on this unsanitary “tub” called “Tyrol”? - Those were the days back then, and maybe there were also happy days.

Football team in Bobrka Standing, from right to left: Herschel (lives in Argentina), Leib Klings, Shmuel Laxer, Hirsch Gottlieb, David Lehrer, Moshe Gottlieb, Aharon Bromberg, Laser Schnapp, Leib Uchisker Kneeling: Shmuel Bromberg, Lipa Lotringer (lives in Israel), Hirsch Mann, Shimshon Kater (lives in America) Seated, the goalkeeper: Israel Laxer

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“Tze'irei Mizrahi” Association in Bobrka First row from top right: Elimelech Sheinfeld, Simcha Katz, Shimshon Hameidas, Hania Meler (lives in Petah Tikvah), Mindel Ber (lives in Tel Aviv), S. Shrayar (Tel Aviv), Esther Shein (Jerusalem), Zissel Rapp, Yaakov Londner, Moshe Korman, Yaakov Lutzer, Esther Freindlich, Yehoshua Hanig, Rapp (daughter of Zelig Rapp), Chaim Lam (member of the center) Rivka Shrayar (Rehovot) , Yente Miller, Zvi Shor, Mordechai Weiser (Jerusalem), Avraham Shrayar, Menachem Galer, Aharon Bromberg, Avraham Deixler, Yitzhak Tzbati (the first pioneer from the “Tze'irei Mizrahi” branch in Bobrka who immigrated to Israel in 1932, now lives in Moshav Hibat Tzion.

I was born, raised and educated in Bobrka, which although it was a town like any other town in eastern Galicia, a unique Jewish charm was embedded in its entire being. The life of the Jews, “the common folks”, in the market and on the street, the spirit and emotion that prevailed in the town's “Beit Midrash” had a special flavor and character, and I will never forget the “Girsa Deyankuta” (knowledge acquired in childhood) I brought with me as one of the “Beit Midrash” students in my youth.

As mentioned, our town did not have a special hallmark. The Jews were the living spirit, and even though the majority of the population was Gentile, still the town had a Jewish character. Jewish life prevailed at every step. The Jewish tradition dominated everything. All were adherents “to this Torah which is our strength and light”… On every corner and every street there was a synagogue or Beit Midrash and Jews would get up early in the morning and go to them every day… The well-known melody, the Beit Midrash melody, would break through the stillness of the night. Young men next to the Torah-obsessed “houseowners” were used to literally obeying the commandment “And you will recite it day and night”… After a day of work in a craft or trade, which often exhausted their strength, they would gather in the Beit Midrash to study Gemara together, to review “Ein Yaakov”, and some came just to say a few Psalms.

It is therefore no wonder that the synagogue and especially the Beit Midrash in the town became a cultural and social center, and aside from clarifying a difficult issue, they also discussed daily matters. There were those who interpreted the recent political events following the headlines in the Yiddish newspapers that came from Warsaw, there were those who discussed the matters of the community and sometimes also the dispute “Who will be the rabbi in Bobrka”… And there were also those

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who in those days, about thirty-five years ago, longed for Zion and Jerusalem…

In those days it was not an easy thing to be a “Zionist”. The atmosphere in the Jewish Street, and especially in the small towns, was “anti-Zionist”. All the Zionist action had to be done in “underground conditions”. Nevertheless, those who were captured by Zionism were not satisfied with being identified as Zionists, but sought to instill the national religious idea within the walls of the Beit Midrash and into every Jewish home, and I will try to tell about that in the following lines.

We were a group of religious young people from the students of the Beit Midrash, whose Zionist idea ignited our hearts. And here is a true story: During one of our visits to Lviv, we met Reb Moshe Reich, may he live long life, and several other members from the Mizrachi center who tasked us with getting the young men interested in the Zionist idea. The meeting was absolutely coincidental. We met during a “Mincha - Ma'ariv” in one of Lviv's synagogues and they naturally greeted us with “Shalom Aleichem” and asked where we were from. And when we told them about the town and our Beit Midrash where dozens of young men were concentrated, they began to explain to us “what religious Zionism is”. This was well rooted in our minds. We understood well the value of the movement, especially after reading the material written by the heralds of the national religious revival: Rabbi Kalisher ztz”, the Rabbi Mohaliver ztz”, Reb Eliyahu Guttmacher z” and more.

Our first action was to bring the things to the attention of the members of the Beit Midrash. We decided to do it step by step. First, we “smuggled” some Zionist literature in and… also the writings of Chaim Nachman Bialik, and only at a later stage did we begin to argue about the path we will take in the future…

…And again, the debate was not about joining some political movement, but about the way of the “circle” - about the way the guys of the Beit Midrash would continue. The question was: should we also introduce into the “Stiebel” secular studies, such as Hebrew studies (it is interesting that studying the holy language at that time was considered to be secular study…) and the history of the people of Israel, or should we separate secular from holy. In the Beit Midrash we will continue with sacred studies and we will have another place designated for the “secular” activities. Finally, the decision was made to merge everything within a branch of the organization. We were not ready to accept the opinion that prevailed on the street at the time, according to which it was forbidden to study Hebrew and Bible and to be interested in the history of the people of Israel. Although the decision was preceded by heated debates among the society, in the end we agreed and ended up following the path of “Torah and Derech Eretz”, to blend the holy with the secular with the intention to enslave the secular to the holy as well…

But at the same time, we decided not to sever ties with the masses of Chassidic and ultra-Orthodox Jews. There were guys among us who were among the Chassidic courts. In particular, the number of the Belz Chassidim was large. We decided not to sever contact with the rebbes. We even gave a silent instruction to those who studied in the Stiebel of Belz to continue their studies and continue to visit the Rebbe during the holidays and especially during the “Days of Awe”.

There was a debate between us about whether it might be worthwhile and desirable to join the Zionist movement through “Aguda”, that is, first we will publicly join the Agudath Israel youth and later, when the spirits have calmed down, we will openly move to Tze'iri Mizrahi. After debates, the opinion of those who rejected this indirect way prevailed, - I was one of them - and we decided to come out openly with the religious Zionist idea and founded a branch of Tze'iri Mizrahi.

Afterwards, a delegation went to the center in Lviv and there we were received with a warm welcome. The members Dov Knoll, Zvi Doron (both are in Israel today), provided us with all the help and the spiritual and physical support for the establishment of the branch.

We came back encouraged and immediately went into action. We raised the flag of religious Zionism in the town and after a very short period of time about two hundred of the best young men in the place gathered and concentrated around it. We founded a Hebrew school of Mizrahi; we organized Hebrew lessons for adults; we held meetings and lectures. This is how, quietly and safely, religious Zionism put down deep roots before the opponents of Zion had time to grasp the meaning of the social revolution that took place in the town…

The “Holy Rebellion” that took place within the walls of the Batei Midrashot and synagogues in the town also served as a starting point for the organization of Zionist life there. After us, all the other Zionist movements from the right and the left also started coming. An “Inter-Party Zionist Committee” was organized under the name of “The Federation” (coordinating the actions) for the Jewish National Fund, for the Keren Hayesod as well as for holding other joint Zionist actions.

The whole work was carried out with dedication and Chassidic devotion. From time to time, we were informed, that this Belz Chassid and a certain Stratyn Chassid, etc. had joined the movement. The joy in our place - the house of the religious Zionist movement, was great.

Later on, we started asking for “certificates” to immigrate to the land of Israel. This caused great agitation and great resistance among the parents, pious Jews, who were ready to put up with the idea that their sons had been captured by Zionism, but were by no means ready to put up with the idea that their sons will abandon them and immigrate to the Land of Israel…

But to our great regret, this whole debate broke out too late and did not have time to mature into positive results. The Zionist movement was established in the town only in the early 1930s and before we had time to establish ourselves, the great flood came… The terrible war broke out which brought destruction and annihilation to the communities of Israel in Poland and most European countries.

At the end of 1939, the Soviets entered the town. They ruled it until June 1941, when Bobrka was occupied by the German Nazis. During the Soviet rule, we continued our Zionist activities. We continued to meet in the Beit Midrash, although in a reserved manner and out of care that we would not be recognized as Zionists. Zionism was banned as soon as the Russians entered. They declared a war against it with the help of the “Jews of the Yevsektsiya” - the local communists who immediately rose to prominence…

The connection with the members in Lviv loosened and slowly it was completely disconnected. The Holocaust cut off the last fuse of Zionist life in particular and of Jewish life in general in our town. We were spread all over the world. Some fled to the Soviet Union, or were exiled there and survived. Some managed to escape in various ways from the claws of the predatory Nazi beast, but the majority of

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the members of the Mizrachi Zionist circle in our town were murdered on Kiddush Hashem and their spilled blood cries out: Earth, do not cover their blood… And may God avenge the blood of the members, the first heralds of the national religious revival in Bobrka.

Among the founders of the above-mentioned Mizrahi Zionist “circle” were the honored late gentlemen: Simcha Katz, Elimelech Rapp, Israel Dreyer, Michael Lotringer, Zvi Shor, Elimelech Sheinfeld, Shimshon Hamaids, their memory will be glorified and honored. And the following gentlemen, may they live a long life: Yitzhak Tzvati - now in Moshav Hibat Tzion, Chaim Karten - in the USA, Mordechai Weiser - Jerusalem, and the writer of these columns, who during our joint action established relations of friendship, love and peace between us, and with joint forces, hand in hand, we worked for Zion and Jerusalem. But unfortunately, most of them did not get to see with their own eyes the resurrection of Israel and the fulfillment of the idea for which they worked, and for its sanctification they sacrificed their lives… They deserve to be remembered favorably and their place is in the commemorative gallery of the young Proto-Zionism, the successors of the first Proto-Zionism. May their memory be blessed.

Some of the members of our lovely town are now in Israel. They went through all seven sections of hell during the Holocaust and yet they returned one by one to their roots. Today they are among the activists of the Zionist parties in Israel and contribute their part to the building of the state - the State of Israel.

The Zionist education we received in the Beit Midrash penetrated deep into our being. We believed in the idea when we were dreamers, and even more so today, as God has surpassed His dealings with us… and we thank God for granting us life and for helping us reach this day, and this is our comfort in our great mourning for the loss of our dear loved ones.

The Zionist association “Achva” in Bobrka

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