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[Page 82]
by Dov Sadan
Translated by Mira Eckhaus
About fifteen years ago, we, a small group of boys from the province, came to Lviv - to renew the pioneer movement and its unification in all of Galicia. Our goal was interrupted by the mechanism of public activism for the sake of honor - a faction of privileged people, who harassed the management of our movement as if it was an interim station in their career, a career whose pick was a seat in the Sejm, in the community, etc. These people had, in fact, neither affinity nor inner interest in the movement and its way, and the liberation from them was not easy, and after a short discussion in the pioneer's committee, we caused them to flee. They, of course, revenged us for it with acts such as sabotage and the like.
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In those days when we, the boys of the province, expelled the faction of privileged people and started the renewal of the movement and its work, we were alone and without any help. But we found ourselves supported by a group of young people from Lviv who did not see immigration to the Land of Israel as their immediate and urgent mission, but attaining the characteristics of Israel were their immediate goal. They were aware of the characteristics of the respectable Zionist public affairs, how much dedication there was to the idea in its essence, and out of disappointment they sought shelter in the shadow of the young men who gathered from different towns. Some worked at the Institute of Technology, some in the school building named after Avraham Korkish, some in the Yavor factory. They ate their meager meals in their wretched kitchen in the Zygmuntovska basement and slept outside the city near the insane asylum, and then, when the landlord threw away their few movables and locked the house, the tables in the “Tze'irei Yehuda” association in the Huisman passageway became their lodgings.
Yosef Apner was also in this group of young people. He was a fancy man in his dress and appearance, meticulous about the quality of the pleats in his trousers and the elegance of his tie. He behaved as a person from a good family and all his manners seemed to emphasize the different side between him and his new friends, for whom the soup spoon and the complete shoe sole were a great concern. He, like the other members of this group, did not see our movement and its organization as a stage for a career, but they also did not raise the delusion that they were real members. They would assist it. Their quickness and connections allowed us to overcome several big obstacles. When I bring to mind the memory of those days - I see how much Apner 's services were unique. These were services which, although some of them were done in public, were not meant to be widely known. He, for example, was one of the leaders of those who helped us in getting those tables at “Tze'irei Yehuda”. And this was not easy - it was an association for lectures, conversations, playing chess, and we asked to make it a refuge for us. How hard Apner strived to convince the people, to acquire for us the right of membership and voting. I see him in my mind on the same Shabbat before the general assembly, running hundreds of errands after he had already done so much, just as I see him on the Shabbat after the assembly. He handled the association needs for us: all its halls, books and tables, and again after having already run hundreds of errands. Even if no one obliged him to do so, he considered himself obligated to take care of the arrangement of our kitchen, which fed about a hundred guys; to take care of a set of dishes, food, and the like.
Or his secret assistance with the matters of “Ezra”, which was our financial institution. Its administration was in the hands of the representatives of all the Zionist parties. It was not easy for us to maintain our independence, because more than once the people in charge of finances wanted also to rule our souls. The will of the wealthy persons to force their opinion increased significantly with the beginning of the blowing of “Et livnot” (time to build) spirits. There were also attempts to launch guardianship named “Taryag” on our movement. It was difficult to run our small movement safely but we succeeded in doing so. With the aid of our young helpers and our decisiveness, we did not let anyone rule our souls and did not give up our independence in any way. And again, all the trouble Apner went through to help us - he was the one who knew how to find a bypass road for the parties, so that they would not send to “Ezra” those who love disputes, those who corrupt every good thing, rather they would send us the remnants who still acted in good faith. He took the trouble to make sure that the good veteran Zionists, who were united in the group “Tikvat Zion” and had not yet learned the ways of the grumpy ones who arouse hatred, those who still had innocence left in them, would be sent. Once he said: “Do you want a guarantee that they will not send an argumentative person? Then will you be sure they send my father?” I thought to myself: he is joking, but indeed, at the nearby yeshiva was his father, Reb Petahia Epner, one of the best of those veterans, who helped us more than once to avoid unnecessary friction.
He was well versed in Zionist life, he knew well their activists, the actions behind the scenes,
[Page 83]
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which were not heartwarming. With great fury he would speak condemnations, but while saying them he would soften his voice, smile and say: “Vas iz da tsu radan, du dach ruiberbandel”. He knew more than all of us about the twists and turns of relationships, the trade in mandates, the tangle of personal intrigues, the rot in the institutions and the people who worked in them, but he did not have the hatred that we, the disappointed boys of the province, had in us, just as he did not have any cynicism that we had. There was an activism in him that distanced him from hating the institutions we hated so much. He held all the appointments and power of attorney to all the relevant boards or committees. He liked to act out of his own initiative. Sometimes he suddenly appeared, sat at the table, took the return letters intended for delivery, wrote the addresses for a long time, glued the stamps and carried the bundle to the post office. Sometimes he ran all over the city, and returned in the evening with a list of craftsmen willing to hire members, sometimes he went out to roam the villages to find working places for the members. And everything was done without a mandate. I once asked him: “Apner, who told you to do this?” He replied: “What do you mean: who? Apner!” I'll admit, we treated him the way we treated a semi-member. He also considered himself that way. We felt that the current situation was comfortable for him as well.
And here was our mistake. We saw a young man whose behavior seemed to be refined, who did not sleep in the moss of the “building” or on the tables of that association, and his eating was not abducted eating at Mr. Sasover's - and we have judged him. Even when he went out for training and we heard rumors about him, that he was still dealing with a hundred issues, negotiating with estate owners and amazing the people in the training with his actions and his negotiation power- we still saw a gentle activist, who helps us in any way for his own benefit. We said among ourselves: his innocence and activism indeed brought him to us, but not to be one of us. We added and said: just as we were assisted by him in the city, we will be assisted by him now in the village. And in the city, we were assisted by him a lot: members who sneaked out of the Soviet Union needed assistance from the authorities - Apner assisted with this matter. There was a hunt in the streets by those who were trying to earn easy money, and some of our members, who went to work without certificates and did not know how to speak the language of the country, were exposed to danger. Who took care of them? Apner of course. He led them to the police office and waited there in a “line” until the rage passed. Some of them had to stay outside the “building”, so that the police could check - well, Apner took care of that as well. He and his running around were a sort of an institution unto themselves. It was indeed an old institution, the institution of benevolence without any hidden motives, which may seem naive nowadays, but who will deny the grace and beauty of it? When I would enter the little Bernstein Street, it seemed to me to be a multitude of institutions: the community center, a hall and another hall, “Yad Harutzim”, the “HeChalutz” center, the “Ezra” management, the “Yiddisher Arbeiter” printing press, the “Jewish National Fund” office, and a tiny institution, unusual but still blended in with everyone - Apner's apartment. Just as I could not imagine the street without those institutions, I could not imagine them without the panicked walk, a walk of a Mitzvah, the walk of this tall boy with blue eyes and curly blond hair. No, I could not believe that his departure to the village was more than a temporary matter. I explained to myself: it's simple. When the city was emptied of its pioneers and the trend of training in the countryside increased - his activity place was taken away, so Apner had nothing to do there. When the “building” will be again full of people, he will also return. He returned earlier - he came from the village of Okno with a large group of people. He came with them to the great gathering of pioneers. This village was far from Lviv and the group walked the entire way. They walked for several days. When I saw him tanned and tired, and especially when I heard his words in our conversation, which was at midnight in the Myodova Grotto cave, I knew he peeled off his entire elegance and fancy appearance and revealed his inner self to himself as well as to others.
He was in Israel for years and I did not hear about him. Later I saw him several times and our meetings were short. He was then at his job - either distributing milk, or driving. Once I saw him at the end of HaHashmal Street, sitting on the back of a large car and eating in a hurry. I asked him: Where is the Apner I know, the activist? He smiled and waved his hand. At that moment I remembered something that was somewhat strange: I was traveling by train with a group of immigrants, pioneers from Germany. They were the first immigrants who arrived to Givat Brenner, those who started the Aliyah from Germany about four years before Hitler's era. There was a train exchange at dawn in Munich. An old man came and dragged our bundles with much effort. He said he was very sorry that he was a little late. He had been fulfilling this mitzvah for many years. His words moved me to tears: I didn't get to immigrate to Israel, at least I will serve you. A quick reflection flickered in me: our Apner is now an old man. Not that I forgot that Apner has been working in Israel for a long time, but every time his image pops up in my mind,
[Page 84]
I see him as the head of accompaniers at the train station in Lviv, carrying the immigrants' sacks, their clothes, their bundles, and everything was done with great dedication, with devotion, and when the immigrants' train moved, and on the pavement of the train station people were dancing and singing, his head was noticeable – with his curly blond hair and his big blue eyes.
Bad people murdered him on the road by shooting a bullet in his head. The same prominent head with the same eyes in which I have often seen joy when the boys of Israel immigrated to the Land of Israel.
by M.Z. (Jerusalem)
Translated by Mira Eckhaus
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In those days, even before you were a city, a murky stream overturned your fields and beavers chewed the trees of your forests, and from them did you get this name in those days
In those days you were just
And in every way and path
Until the exiles of Ashkenaz
And they built this city
And like you, hundreds of communities
And in those days
And with the anxiety of all your vows |
[Page 85]
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And thanks to your Jews who were bent and tired of life, who carried in silence the burden of the Torah and the fear of the heavens and the burden of livelihood and the burden of good manners, and in the midst of suffering, they also stood in front of angry Gentiles, and were hunted by dogs that cast terror
And in the wickedness of the Gentiles in you, you were my stepmother,
And I hated you twice as much in the processions
And I hated you twice as much, you, the step-city,
And when a grave was dug in you for the thousands of Jews who lived in you,
Therefore, cursed are the Gentiles
And there will come a day of payment and revenge,
And until this day arrives - cursed will be your plowed fields, |
by Dr. S. P. Kallay (Jerusalem)
Translated by Mira Eckhaus
It would be wrong if we consider that the pioneers were the first to immigrate from the city of Bobrka to the Land of Israel. There was an immigration to Israel many years before them, there were “Aavelei Zion” in the town and there were many Jews who made “Tikun Chatzot” and longed for the Land of Israel. The longing for Zion was in the heart of every Jew and the redemption yearnings were great. And there were Nachshonim who left the material life of “this world” and went to the Land of Israel to live in it and rebuilt it.
We did not search in the Kollel's books. According to our memory, we can name five names of Bobrka Jews who immigrated to Israel before the third Aliyah, and perhaps also before the second Aliyah.
Rabbi Naftali Hertz Zaltz immigrated to Israel with his family and settled in Safed. His grandchildren, sons and daughters of his son Yosef Zaltz, live with us today in Israel (in Safed and Jerusalem).
Leibish Chana's used to teach young children in Bobrka. At the end of his days, after his sons and daughters got married, he immigrated to Jerusalem together with his wife.
Moshe Yagid lived at the end of his days in the Land of Israel. He sat and studied Torah and published a book called Half the Shekel.
Moshe Gottlieb was a very rich man in Bobrka, respected and esteemed. They did not start the prayer in the Beit Midrash before the arrival of Moshe Gottlieb. At the end of his days, he immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem. The entire members of his family in the town perished (his granddaughter Clara, the daughter of his son Yosef Gottlieb, survived and lives in Tel Aviv).
Eli Shmuel Vin was a teacher in the city of Bobrka. After his sons got married, he immigrated to the Land of Israel with his wife to end his days in Jerusalem. Their grandsons and granddaughters also immigrated to the Land of Israel and were married here. He used to pray every day at the Western Wall. When the first pioneers came to visit him, he brought them closer and treated them with affection.
Meir Tzuch and Sima Tzuch came in their old age to cultivate the soil of the land. In 1920, they sent two sons to the Land of Israel. Moshe Leib z”l traveled in the first group and worked at Beit Alfa and Avraham (Bunia), may he live long life, traveled in the second group. The other two sons were in America. One son, Herman, was in America; the fourth brother (Yosef) went there in the mid 1930's.
They lived their last days in Jerusalem and were buried on the Mount of Olives.
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by Dr. S. P. Kallay (Jerusalem)
Translated by Mira Eckhaus
Miriam Yaget z”l immigrated with the first group, in May 1920. She first worked in Biraniya, then moved to the group of the labor battalion that paved the Migdal-Zemach Road at the time. She fell ill with typhus and died in the summer of 5681. She was buried in Migdal settlement. May her memory be blessed!
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Yosef Efner was murdered while driving in 1936. An assassin's bullet pierced his heart. Dov Sadan mentioned his memory in his book “Avnei Zikaron”.
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(may God avenge him) |
Philon Friedman was seven years old when he arrived in Israel with his parents (Shmuel Zeinbel and Sara Friedman) in 1936. They got off the ship the day the events broke out. Philon studied at the Education School in Jerusalem and joined the immigrant camps and went to training in Gvat. He contacted the group in Ma'ayan Baruch and enlisted in the Palmach. At the outbreak of the events, he fought in the north of the country. On the night of the operation in Nebi Yosha, he was called to take the place of a company commander who fell ill. He left and did not return. Two of his good friends were wounded in the operation. He gave the order to withdraw. They all retreated and he stayed with the wounded. The pleas of his soldiers to withdraw with them were of no avail. The next night his friends took down his lifeless body from the mountain. According to his parents' request, his bones were moved to the military cemetery on Mount Herzl near Jerusalem. The military camp “Philon Camp” is named after him.
He was a beautiful young man. He had excellent talents and a desire to learn. He fell at the age of 19. Alas for this beauty that will dry up in the dirt! May his memory be a bundle in the bundle of life of the regenerating nation in Israel.
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Shimon Breitfeld was born in 1901. He immigrated to Israel with the first group, in May 1920. He worked in Bithanya. In 1921, he joined the group of members of the city who immigrated later (in August 1920). He worked in the construction of the railway in Zirifin. Afterwards he worked in the construction of the Craftsmen Center neighborhood in Tel Aviv and moved from there to Mikveh Israel. The tractor fascinated him. He went to Czechoslovakia to study mechanics and returned as a perfect tractor driver to Mikveh Israel. Not many days passed and his health deteriorated. He moved to Haifa and got a job in the municipality as the secretary of the Legal Committee. He was a devoted and loyal friend, loved by all. He lived and died alone. On August 23, 1960, he drowned on a beach in Haifa. May his memory be blessed!
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[Page 88]
Shmuel (Zeinbel) Friedman was born in 1893. He made a revolution in his life. He immigrated with his family to Israel at a young age, in 1936, and brought with him a rich past. He served in the army of Franz Joseph I, fought in World War I on the Italian front and was wounded. He was a Chassid of Belz and in his youth was one of the “sitters” in Belz. He arrived to the Land of Israel with his beard and wigs grown wild. He had hard times.
He arrived in Israel with the outbreak of the events, no work was difficult or hard for him, provided that he could provide livelihood for his family members and give an education to his sons. He lived a working life in the full sense of the word and was a loyal member of the Histadrut from his first day in Israel until his last day.
He used to fulfill the mitzvah of “giving in secret”. Upon receiving his salary, he had several addresses for “distribution”. And he walked to the homes of the needy. He was happy when he got a permanent job at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. But the days of happiness did not last. In the war of liberation, he lost his beloved son. He bore his pain in silence - and broke.
He was good-natured, honest and loyal. May the dirt in which he lies be sweet to him. May his memory be blessed!
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Aharon Galer, the son of Rabbi Reb Binyamin Galer, immigrated to the Land of Israel with the second group, in August 1920. He worked for a while in Shomria. I don't know how he arrived to Mikveh Israel (probably, under the influence of Shimon Breitfeld). He traveled together with Breitfeld to Czechoslovakia, studied together and graduated as an electrical engineer. He did not find his way in life. He had more pretensions than life offered him. He worked in the Dead Sea and was not happy. He was a closed man, and kept everything inside his soul. He was a handsome man and when the spirit of poetry rested on him, he would sing. He had a pleasant voice, magical and captivating.
When the labor camp in the Dead Sea was dismantled, Aharon wandered from place to place and was not absorbed anywhere. He married a wife, had a son and never experienced happiness in his life. May his memory be blessed!
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Amnon, the son of Miriam and Uri Kruvi was second generation in Israel. He was a “Zabar” with all the beautiful qualities that a “Zabar” is blessed with. He was a sportsman from his childhood. He was a member of the Movement of the Working Settlement Youth and a member of the Palmach. He assisted in all hard work and all duty. He fought everywhere. As an excellent pilot he was sent to France to attend continuing education. He was the first to fly in the country in Meistrim. He died in an airplane of type “Chimavir”. No one could understand how this happened to Amnon, the quiet, alert, the thoughtful and experienced man. He left a large family of lovers and not only his relatives, as Amnon was beloved, honest and devoted. May his memory be a bundle in the bundle of life of the regenerating nation in Israel.
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David Ehrlich was born in Bobrka in 1898, and immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1935, with a family of six members. He was absorbed in Israel. He settled near Rehovot, in the Ephraim neighborhood. He raised and educated his sons and daughters and was happy. In 1960, his life was suddenly cut off while he was playing with his grandson at the house of his daughter, Sarah Atkin. His friends and family remember him with love. May his memory be blessed!
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Zvi, the son of David and Tova Erlich, was born at the end of Passover in 5687 (1927) in the city of Rohatyn in Poland. He graduated from elementary school in Rehovot. He studied mechanics and devoted every spare hour to help his parents on their farm. He participated in many military operations: in Soukrar, in Beit Govrin, in Tel Arish, in Bashit, in Latrun and in the “Yoav” operations for the opening of the road to the Negev. He served as a saboteur in “Negba”.
[Page 89]
In the battle for Hulicat, by storming the 40th post, he broke into the enemy's position, destroyed the position and fell there, on October 19, 1948. In his death, he commanded us to live. May his memory be blessed in the bundle of life of the regenerating nation in Israel!
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Hanina ben Yitzhak Tzavti was born on 25th of Cheshvan, 5696. He was a second generation in Israel, he was educated for work, and a life of freedom and bravery. He was a paratrooper. He participated in all combat raids. He was one of the first recruits in the Sinai War, and returned to the group of the settlement in the Negev. In a car accident in the Negev, his young life ended. May his memory be blessed in the bundle of life of the regenerating nation in Israel!
His father, Yitzhak Tzavti writes: In memory of our late son Hanina. We were broken when our beloved was taken from us, our only son who was all light and glory, a blessed and pure soul who did not live long enough.
Five years have passed since then, but the heart cries, the soul aches and the heads are confused. It is hard to accept that Hanina is no longer with us, we remained stuck like two stalks in the field after the harvest. We are destined to drink the cup of grief which is more than man can bear, and human language is poor to express the amount of sorrow and grief that fell on us.
When Hanina finished his service in the IDF, he wanted to continue his studies and I asked him to stay at home. He answered me: “Father look, I was in the army together with my friend Eliyahu. He was my beloved friend and fell by my side in the battle of “Hussein”. It is my sacred duty to fill his place in the group of the settlement in the Negev”.
What could I reply to his precious words that still ring in my ears today.
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Golda Schwartz (Zehava Schloss), the daughter of Mordechai Hirsch Schwartz, was born in Bobrka in 1903. She immigrated to Israel in 1932. She married Mr. Yehuda Schloss (z”l) in 1935. Zehava died suddenly in 1951. She left two daughters, one (Hannah Zaharoni) lives in Israel and the other (Sarah) lives in the USA.
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Meir, the son of Pesi and Shalom Dingot, was born on November 7, 1886, in the city of Bolikhov. He started his career as a teacher in our city, Bobrka, where he spent several years and considered himself a local. Most of the Bobrka immigrants, members of the third Aliyah, were his students and everyone remembers him fondly.
With the outbreak of World War I, Dingot was drafted into the Austrian army, captured by the Russians and sent to Siberia. There he studied English. In 1920 he immigrated to Israel according to a special permit obtained for him by Novomeisky. He worked for a few months as a train laborer and then was accepted as an English teacher at the Reali School in Haifa, where he served as a teacher until the day of his death.
His only son, Dr. Daniel Dingot, serves as an associate professor of medicine in Haifa.
Meir Dingot trained many students and was the first to publish English textbooks. He died in Haifa on June 1, 1959.
Honor his memory!
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The wife of Reb Shmuel Ziegler, born in 1880, in Zholkava. She lived all her days in Bobrka during the Holocaust, hiding with a Gentile. She Immigrated to the Land of Israel with her eldest son Isaac in 1946. She died in Jerusalem. Her sons, Isaac and Reuven Israel and her daughter Frida, live in Israel.
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