Personalities and Officials (cont.)
Dr. Arieh Begun
He was the chairman of the ORT organization in Brest. A progressive community official, he was active in it's welfare institutions and especially TOZ –the healthcare organization. He was killed in the Brest Ghetto.
Dr. Shneur Zalman Bichowski
Born in Brest, in his youth he was a yeshivah student. A well –known Zionist leader, he published several interesting memoirs about Brest Jewish life. Went to live in Warsaw where he became renowned as a neurologist. He was a member of the Warsaw city council was famous as a fighter against corruption and discrimination.
Hirsh –Chaim Birshtein
A merchant, a learned scholar and benefactor. He was the grandson of the famous Rabbi David Meir, the owner of the renowned house at 12 Topolowa St. in which were located all the Zionist interests in the city, rent free.
His son in law was the banker Raphael Shereshevski from Warsaw. Birshtein died in Warsaw.
Michael Berezovski
He graduated from the Pedagogic (teaching) Academy in Grodno. He was the director of the “Techiya” Hebrew school in Brest, and founder of the Tarbut bookstore in Brest. He was killed in the Brest Ghetto.
Joseph Eliezer Berlin
He was a merchant and well-known property owner in Brest. He was a trustee of “Birkur Cholim” for decades. Was respected as an arbiter in disputes and active in community activities.
Yitzchak Brandzel
A timber merchant, he was a dedicated Zionist. Respected as an arbiter and accepted in all circles. He was the treasurer of the People's Bank He also proposed to his clients they should buy a “Shekel” and commit to Keren Hayesod for Israel. Perished in the Brest Ghetto.
Reb Moshe Yosef Barlas
The grandson of Reb Tzvi Hirsh Barlas, author of the book “Or HaTzvi”. Moshe Hirsh was a scholar and an educator. He would devote himself every day to study of the Torah. He was a member of the Mizrachi organization and a Zionist activist. During W.W.1 he lived with his family in Biale, and was amongst the first to return to Brest. He was very active in the rebuilding of the city and a member of the relief committee of the Joint. He was on the boards of the Jewish hospital, Talmud Torah, Linat Zedek, and the founder of Assistance for the Poor. He was also an arbiter (judge) in family and financial disputes. His mother, Beila, made aliyah to Israel in 1894 and died in Jerusalem.
Zalman Barlas
He was one of the wealthy residents of Brest. His business was conducted abroad, and provided many jobs for Briskers from his trading enterprises. In 1905 he founded a private bank which was linked to financial capital abroad. One of his sons studied in Switzerland and was killed in a mountaineering accident there. His second son, Dov, fled into Russia in W.W.2, - went through several German concentration camps and arrived in the U.S. after the war. Zalman was a grandson of Reb Tzvi Hirsh Barlas. He perished in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Mordechai Barlas
He was the son of Moshe Yosef Barlas. He was active in Keren Kayemet Leisrael and one of their delegates. He was one of the Zeirei Zion (Young Zionists) and was sent to work in Israel as a cultural attache through this committee. He was a member of the Hebrew Library and other organizations. His brother Leib was active in “Hahalutz”.
Chaim Bromberg
A relative or Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, he was the representative of the gumboot (galoshes) factory “Treygalnik”. He was the permanent gabbei of the Rabbi's synagogue and a great benefactor.
Zelig Braverman
He was a timber merchant and a member of the board of ORT, and the Zionist organization. Active participant in community work. He died in Israel.
Issachar Blankstein
A repected businessman, he was a member of the board of the Brest Credit Union. He was a benefactor to Zionist and orthodox causes. He was a prayer leader in the Great Synagogue.
Wolf Ballach
He was the purveyor of food supplies to the Brest Fortress. He was a supporter of Zionist and orthodox causes. His son, Eliezer Ballach, became one of the foremost engineers in Israel in the field of Water Technology.
Emmanuel Baraks
He was born in 1907, the son of Mordechai Baraks. He was one of the pioneers of the Jewish sports movement such as:Y.S.K., Maccabi, and Nordia. One of the co-founders of Betar and the revisionist movement. Member of the Jewish academic circles and Arcad, the “El Al” corporation in Brest.
Perished in the Kowal Ghetto in 1942.
Yitzchak Baruchin
Son of the renowned merchant Yakov Baruchin and the son in law of the philantrophist Asher Radevski. Finished conservatorium, and was a member of the Brisker refugees committee in Kobryn in 1915-16. He donated his estate, “Adamkowe” for Hachshara (agricultural training) to the Hashomer Hatzair movement and other pioneer organizations. Co-founder and Gabbeh of the Oksenhendler (Ox traders) Synagogue.
Yitzchak Bodanski
He was the manager of the bank account of “Soloveitchik and Morgenstern”. He was a member of the Brisker relief committee in Warsaw in 1914.
Chasia – Beile Bodanski
She was from the Zakheim family from Rozinoy. She did a great deal in assisting the sick and needy through the organization “Matan Bastar”.
Yitzchak –Asher Becker
Born in Kobryn, from 1908 he lived in Brest. He was active in many communiy affairs. For years he was the representative of the St. Petersburg 'Nevski' soap and candle factory in Brest. He was a Chassid and close to the Stoliner Rebbe, He contributed a great deal towards the building of the orphanage in Brest. He visited Israel, returned to Brest and perished under the Nazi murderers.
His son, Aaron Becker, lives in Israel and is the head of the Histadrut.
Yehudah, the son of Yakov Baruch Breinhendler
He was born in Brest in 1882. He was the son in law of Rabbi Naphtali Tzvi Goldfarb, and the brother in law of Avraham Yitzchak Bleiweiss. The family Breinhendler was religious and Zionist. Yehudah was a member of the Jewish Community Council, the Merchant Bank and other institutions. He made aliyah with his wife Zipporah in 1936. He died in Tel-Aviv in 1943.
Issar Gvirtzman
The gabbei of the Great Synagogue, he made aliyah to Israel where he assisted in building the synagogue in Kiryat Motzkin, and was the gabbei there.
Mendel Gvirtzman
The son of Hershel Gvirtzman. One of the most influential and well-known chassdim in Brest. As an 'elder' of the Jewish community under the Russians, he greatly assisted the young Jewish men who were called up for military service.
Tzvi “Hershel” Gvirtzman
He owned an oil factory, and was one of the founders of the Mizrachi organization in Brest, and representative of this party in all the institutions. He worked tirelessly for the Joint (post W.W.1) on the committee for the homeless. Killed in the Brest Ghetto.
Nachum Govrinovski (Nachum the Slonimer)
He ran a Cheder Metukan, a modern Hebrew school, and was one of the most advanced teachers in Brest. He introduced new methods of educating his students in the Jewish nationalist spirit.
Rabbi Moshe Gottman
He arrived from the shtetl of Orleh to live in Brest in 1896 at the invitation of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik. He was requested to manage and oversee the supervision of the Yeshivah Torat Chaim in Jerusalem, whose directorship was in Brest. About twenty emmissaries were working under him, collecting monies for this yeshivah in all the corners of Russia. During W.W.1 he was one of the refugees in Bereza Kartuzka, who suffered greatly from hunger. He still collected his students around him and spread the Torah in abundance. He returned to Brest in 1917 and was nominated as a member of the Rabbinate. He passed away in 1933 in Brest.
Nathan Goldring
He was chairman of several of the aid institutions in the city. During the campaign for the first Polish Sejm (parliament) he was on the Zionist list. He became ill and died at a young age.
Eliezer Goldfarb
He was a member of the General Zionists and on the board of the orphanage. He was active in Keren Kayemet and Keren Hayesod. He perished in the Ghetto.
Liza Galadetz
She was active in Brest's social institutions. She was the head of the Womens Branch of the Zionist Movement. She perished in the Ghetto.
Reb Nachum Zeev Goldrei
He was born in Brest in 1864 and died in Jerusalem in 1921.He worked in the oil industry, and founded an export business - trading with Germany - with many branches in Germany and other western European countries. His sons ran the business, and he made aliyah on the advice of the Gerrer Rebbe. He built a large building in the Houses of Warsaw district in Jerusalem, which gave him the community directorship. He was a great benefactor.
David Gitelman
Active in the leftist Poale Zion and a member of the board of “Zisheh”. He was active in the community institutions, and a member of the community council. Perished in the Ghetto.
Dr. Yosef Geizler
Founder and chairman of TOZ (community health organization) in Brest: He was the head doctor of the government health benefit fund. He perished in the Ghetto.
Yitzchak Gendler
Owner of a printing press. He was the editor of “Polessie Shtimmeh”, a member of the city council, and active in labor circles. He visited Israel in 1935 and returned to Brest. Perished in the Ghetto.
Reb Alter Grosleit
He was a grandson of the famous Rabbi Pinchas Michael of Antopol, author of the book “Divrei Pinchas” (Warsaw 1860) “Lakat Hakotzrim” (Vilna 1867), and others. He was an in-law of Tzvi Hirsh Barlas. He gave a great amount to charity, and was a member of the board of the Old Age home and Birkur Cholim and other institutions. He purchased land in Kfar Oriya before W.W.1. He made aliyah with his wife Sheina- Rivka and settled in Bnei Brak. He died in Tel-Aviv in 1940.
His brother, Yitzchak (Itzik) Grosleit, lived in Lodz and was one of the pioneers of the Jewish textile industry. He was the chief director of the Paznitzki factory.
Dov – Ber Grosman
Property owner and manufacturer. A great benefactor to all the Jewish institutions.
Dr. Yochanan Greenstein
He was a doctor in the Jewish hospital, and a director of TOZ. He donated much medical help to the underprivileged.
Shalom Halpern
He was from an orthodox Zionist family, and active in the Zeirei Zion and Hachalutz. He was the librarian of the Brest Library from 1920-26. He came to Israel in 1927, and worked in the orchards of Kfar Saba. He was a member of the Bemaavar kibbutz in Petach Tikvah. In 1931 he moved to Kfar Azar where he was involved in agricultural activity. In his last years he worked for the Israeli Water Board. He died in 1954.
Leon Horoditch
A banker, he was one of the first to have contacts with Dr. Theodore Herzl at the beginning of the Zionist movement. Their activities were conducted in secret because of fear of the Russian authorities. He received many letters from Herzl which were later lost. He underwrote bonds for the return of Jews to Zion, and was a delegate to the first Zionist Congress, and later participated in another 10 congresses. He died in Tel – Aviv in 1942.
Reb Shabtai (Shepsel) Haft
He was one of the best-known learned scholars of the city, and a colleague of A.L. Feinstein (author of Ir Tehila). He was the founder of the open (free) library. The ultra –orthodox banned him because of his progressive views on education.
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