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“… It sometimes happens that I recognize in our neighbors, in each simple and good, each beloved person whom I see every day, whom I have known for years, something that calls out to me. It is a pity for those who are gone!

“They will lament over those who have left this world and had not a single good day. Over those who were killed by typhus and influenza, Petliura's followers, Denikinites, and by other antisemitic groups–and over the hundreds and thousands barbarically killed by the Fascist murderers. Yes, to recall all the former residents of Khashchevata (this writer's shtetl), each one in his home, on his bench, is impossible. But I will include whomever I can here on the pages of my narratives. I do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, except if someone stirs the memory of the reader and he sees someone as if alive, with his individual gestures, and it seems that he hears how he spoke, how he sang, even how he coughed–this is a kind of resurrection of the dead, whether you believe in it or not.

I always feel a kind of guilt for my landsmen that they impose an old duty on me, a duty that I must fulfill, because important matters remain untold, not sung out, not lamented ….

“… In the very center of Moscow, you should begin to think that you are in Khashchevata, that you traverse the cobblestoned marketplace, that you feel under your feet the very stones, the very sand, the very puddles, and the same limey mud.

“Ite speaks captivatingly about their homes, the old bath, and their and our neighbors, Rachmiel the Thief and Velvele the Apostate, Berel arabarnik and Noach the ropemaker, Rosye the tall and Moshe the deaf.

[Page 28]

He would stand there on his right foot, stick out his left and begin to sing in his way: “A little bit from 12 women. Twelve–a bath.” [Wasn't this like our “Significant Moshe”?–M.G.]

Here we have read an excerpt from a story by a Soviet Jewish writer printed in Soviet Homeland, 1973.

As I read these lines, I see our former Kremenets. Standing before my eyes are our simple, good news. And it seems to me, just as to this author … that they create a duty that I must fulfill.

For a long time I have tried to fulfill this responsibility, but it is huge. But I am certain that I and those who work with me will never stop trying to fulfill it.

On My Grandfather's Steps

It is a beautiful summer morning. The eastern sidewalk of Sheroka Street is bathed in beautiful sunshine, and the other side, where Gindes's pharmacy stands, is in cool shade. The four stone steps that lead from my grandfather's jewelry store to the cobblestone sidewalk were already crowded with aged coachmen, around whom stood their sons and sons-in-law, broad-shouldered young men who occupied an honored place in their fathers' craft.

Opposite them on Sheroka Street stands a long line of harnessed carriages. The horses stand quietly, munching on oats from the sacks that hang on their shafts.

Among those sitting are the most prominent members of the craft: Yenkel the Chief, Yoske Barkes, Mekhel Tadis, Meir Tsan, Meir Bezruk, Aleksander the Apostate, and the very gray Moshe-Shimon Afke.

[Page 29]

Each of them was a young strongman around whom legends developed, especially among children. Looking at them, the strength that filled them seemed about to overflow; and who knew what could happen? Sometimes it resulted in bloody blows, which usually ended in reconciliation and a drink of brandy in the tavern.

Among those standup young men who were so alive and played jokes on each other was Moshe Shive. He had returned from the front with a limp. The large, gray parrot he had brought back rested over his grizzled face summer and winter. All day long it would shriek in its sharp, nasal voice, but a single harsh look from Yenkel the Chief or Mekhel Tadis would temporarily stop him. Somewhat apart stood Shimele the Drummer. A place was found on the steps for him. He was a man of about 50.

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But he did not sit down. Leaning on his stick, from early morning until late at night, he would hold a drum, from which he got his name. No one ever tried to silence him. Although people regarded his stories with skepticism, they listened eagerly, because he was blessed with a vivid imagination. A writer or author seemed to have been lost in him. He was a veterinarian, according to his own proclamation.

The neighboring peasants, as well as those who were better off, knew that Shimele could be found at the “stock exchange,” that is, on the steps. If someone had a problem with a horse, he would come to Shimele. Pretty often, a carriage would approach the steps noisily and take him away. He would then have a story to tell. I think he knew every horse in the district.

When a stranger appeared on the street, Shimele would begin: “Look at that roan or that gray mare ….” And then he would be off with an exciting story about the horse's breeding or owner.

A terrible story about Shimele came to us.

The first train of the day came through at 6:00 in the morning, when, in winter, it was still dark. But the coachmen would be on the steps at 5:00, waiting for passengers. They would have lively conversations that Shimele drowned out with his drum.

Afterward, we would fall into a deep sleep. We were accustomed to the voices and cries from outside, just as we were accustomed to the noise of the many clocks that marked the time on the half-hour or quarter-hour.

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On one such morning in the depths of winter, we heard a sharp knock on our door. Still fresh: our memories of the terrible days of marauding bands–the Petliuras, Povstantses, etc.–that such knocking recalled.

The first to get up was my mother. She went to the closed door and fearfully asked (in Russian): “Who's there?” “The Angel of Death! The Angel of Death!” came a loud cry.

When the door was opened, it appeared that the knocking had come from Shimele's stick. He asked us to take pity on an elderly passenger who was waiting outside in the terrible blizzard. He wanted us to let him come in and warm up. Across the road we saw the traveler who was called “the Angel of Death.” He called to him in a loud voice. This was to show how stupidly people had given him the nickname.

Now the porter was small and thin and went around bent over, even when he was not carrying a sack of flour. From his yellowed visage, two large, deep-set eyes peered out. When someone put cash in his hands, he took on the appearance of the Angel of Death as it has been depicted by artists from all ages.

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In the previous issue of Kol Yotsei Kremenets, no. 10, we printed an article by Mr. Pesach Litov with the title “On Funding a Stipend Fund for the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants at the University of Tel Aviv.” But even earlier, the community had charged a group of members (Argaman, Litev, Rokhel, Dr. Rabinovits) to implement this idea. The community began to collect donations to this end and on 10/10/72 published an appeal to potential donors. At the same time, they undertook negotiations with the university, and on 7/16/73, the agreement between the two parties was signed.

We now bring to members' attention of the highlights of the agreement: “Stipend Fund in the name of RYB”L from the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants for research on Enlightenment literature.”

Our organization establishes a stipend fund at Tel Aviv University in memory of the martyrs of Kremenets and of former city residents who have passed on. For this purpose, the organization has gathered donations from those who have left Kremenets. The university is interested and has agreed to administer the fund in accordance with the following principles.

The fund will be valued according to the monetary index. It will earn interest of 9% per annum. The university, for its part, will also contribute a certain sum each year to conduct research.

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The funds will be distributed annually in the form of stipends or awards for those who conduct research on subjects related to the Enlightenment, who will be recommended by the university to receive funds due to its high level. With the signing of this agreement, the organization gives the university the sum of 16,240 Israeli lirot and calls for the collection of funds from Israel and abroad.

Recommendations for prizes will be set before the “Parity Committee for the RYB”L Library and Stipend Fund.” The committee will make the final decision. The university will make the appropriate announcement in the annual booklet. Every donor will receive a donor's certificate from the university. Disbursement of stipends will take place at the annual ceremony or a special solemn occasion organized by the Institute for Research in Hebrew Literature at the university.

The agreement is signed by the rector Professor Sh. Simonson and Mr. Bar-On from the university, and by A. Argaman, M. Goldenberg, P. Litev, and Y. Rokhel from the organization.

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Important members–

I greet you to urge the establishment of a scholarship fund for students from Tel Aviv University from the RYB”L Library for studying the Enlightenment period of Russian Jewry.

While other landsmanshafts memorialize their home cities by erecting monuments in cemeteries or building homes or hospitals–all of which are important–we Kremenetsers have chosen to create a living bridge for generations between our past, present, and future.

For us it is an honor and point of pride that such a genius, such an important personality from Jewish history as R' Yitschak Ber Levinzon, of blessed memory, lived in our city. His life's work should be studied to furnish continuity with our recent past, to understand current problems. To have a future, we must know our past.

Fromm earlier reactions, we can see that this project has found a favorable echo among Kremenetsers not only in Israel but in America, Argentina, and other countries where Kremenetsers live. With this project we can interest not only the older generation, born in Kremenets, but our descendants–children and grandchildren.

Jewish young people in America–after the rise of social awareness and movements–seek a new perspective on identity: Who are we? Where do we come from? And what do we desire? These young people can find an answer by becoming familiar with our history, our origins, and the ideas of our leaders, philosophers, and writers.

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To this end we also publish in the columns of Kol Yotsei Kremenets articles and essays in the languages that our children abroad use in their daily lives–English and Spanish.

Many people whose origins are in Kremenets hold prominent positions in the intellectual world in America and perhaps in other countries. The board of Kremenets Emigrants in Israel could invite them to participate in the scholarship foundation and share their thoughts either in writing or in conversations with our fellow citizens. To ensure the financial existence of the foundation, we must spread the idea that the older generation of Kremenetsers should (to 120 years) include in their wills a certain part of their inheritance to go to the scholarship fund.

Kremenetsers in New York, Argentina, and the Organization have pledged $1,200, and they have promised further funds. Also, at a meeting of the Organization in November, it was decided that the foundation at Tel Aviv University should also be named after the children of Kremenetsers who fell as soldiers in the Yom Kippur War in order to preserve their memory for a blessing!

This concept should also serve as an initiative to support and back the project forever.

Our goal should be to involve every aspect of the Kremenets community in the scholarship foundation.

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The annual memorial service for the Kremenets martyrs took place, as it does every year, on August 14 in the Kibbutzim College. About 200 landsmen from every corner of Israel took part, some of whom required exceptional exertion and expense. The experience of being with friends and relatives whom one had seldom or never seen in Israel, guests from abroad, who found themselves for several hours in the environment of Kremenets, so that they seemed to be in their old home, still young and lively–that feeling of being together with our martyrs–is worth everything. It was reflected in the feeling of warmth and welcoming that dominated.

Strong, very strong must be the feeling that ties us together, that after 27 years of memorial services they are so engraved in our hearts that we still seize the opportunity so eagerly.

This time, the service was conducted by Mordekhay Ot-Yakar (Motke Otiker). His talk made an unforgettable impression on everyone. Those who had passed away over the past year were eulogized by Izye Portnoy. Manus Goldenberg presented our guests from abroad: Rut Burbil from New York, daughter of Yosef, peace be upon him, and Branye (Bakst) Burbil; Itsik Vaynshteyn's son, Simon, from London; Rachel Koyler, Pesach Koyler's sister, from Buenos Aires.

Manus also introduced the new immigrant Yasha (Yakov) Kremenetski, who recently came to Israel with his family from Tarnopol, as well as a new member of our organization, Yuri Pikhavitsh, son of a Polish family in Kremenets. He immigrated to Israel with his family in 1947. Because of his service to Israel and his exciting life story, we will give him a special place in the next issue of Kol Yotsei Kremenets.

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The performance of the artist Shamay Rozenblum contributed to the high cultural tone of the memorial. He performed recitations in Hebrew and Yiddish appropriate for the occasion.

Something kept the attendees from wanting to depart, and they remained in conversation for a long time.

At the last annual memorial service for our martyrs, in the College, before the official opening, someone took me by the arm and led me through the thick crowd that had assembled in the courtyard. He finally led me to a middle-aged, thin man and introduced him to me as Yashe (Yakov) Kremenetski, a new immigrant from Russia.

Hearing this, I was taken aback. He was the first of the Kremenetsers who had immigrated to Israel from Russia in the current wave. That and his name, “Kremenetski,” were symbolic. He was Yenkel Kremenetski's grandson, the son of my friend Isak Kremenetski.

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The Kremenetski family home, which housed their large manufacturing business, where almost all the children lived and where marriages took place, was established in the 19th century by Yenkel Kremenetski and after his death was led by his wife, Chaye-Sore. Both names are recalled with great respect. In their time, this was the largest manufacturing business in the city. People regarded Yenkel Kremenetski as a veritable Rothschild! It was a great honor to be a clerk in Yenkel Kremenetski's store. Every mother, thinking of her son, dreamed that he would be a Kremenetski. And for some, the dream came true. Almost all the owners of manufacturing shops in the city, such as Ayzik Shteyner, Shlome Kroyt, and Yenkel Dobekirer, Yenkel Yospe, Duvid Goldfern, and others, had first been clerks for Yenkel Kremenetski.

Yenkel's older sons went off to study in big cities, and later they founded the commercial middle school in Kremenets. The eldest son, Azriel, graduated from a high school in Petersburg, and for a long time he was seen in Kremenets in the polytechnic uniform. Later, he with his wife, Sonye, was very active in the city's civic and social life. Azriel occupied the important position of councilman, and Sonye devoted herself to volunteer work. Almost from the beginning of the Orphan's Home in Kremenets, she served as its manager. She did her duty with such devotion and unbounded effort that people in the city thought of her as Kremenets' [Janusz] Korczak. So much love she had. (On Sonye Kremenetski, see Pinkas Kremenets, p. 304, and Kol Yotsei Kremenets, no. 3.)

The younger of Azriel's sons, Isak, our new immigrant's father, was active in underground revolutionary work for the Bund and was arrested after the suppression of the 1905 revolution.

[Page 39]

Thanks to his father's great influence, he was banished. But he had been so tortured by the police that he was ill for the rest of his life. He married in Dubno, but he was always housebound because of his health. I was privileged to know him there and be his friend.

The third son, Borya, had a splendid career on the Russian stage. He had great success in some of the biggest cities in Russia playing lead roles in classic Russian comedies. The few appearances of his troupe in Kremenets were true happenings that people remembered and laughed about.

The other two sons, Lionye and Markus, worked in the slowly declining business until it completely collapsed.

Yashe Kremenetski and his family settled in Tsur Shalom, a town near Haifa, where he opened a dental practice. His wife is an economist in Haifa.

It is appropriate to mention that Betsalel Golberg (Shike's brother) and his wife helped them get organized (a good example for others). Well done!

We wish Yashe and his family success in their labors and an easy adjustment.

May this publication serve as our recognition of them and a special memorial for the deceased and murdered Kremenetskis, as we called them.

[Page 40]

Pinchas Haral (Pintsi Lemberg), of Blessed Memory

He passed away in Kfar Vitkin at the age of 74.

It is impossible to discuss Pintsi's personality without recalling his origin, the house of the Lembergs in Kremenets. It rose up on the street opposite the Zwiedze cinema, surrounded by trees, the Lemberg family's spacious house.

The mother of the family, Stisya, was an educated, enlightened woman, and she had a reputation beyond the city borders. Their home, imbued with Zionism, served as a cultural center.

The older son, Dushke, was a bookish man, a man who knew several languages, and like so many men of that sort, he was divorced from the practical world. People joked about him just as they joke about philosophers and scholars. The second son, Peni, the beautiful Tunya Rozenblit's husband, was a great mathematician and one of the best chess masters in the city.

Stisya's only daughter, Rut, was married to the famous Yiddish writer Duvid Roykhel.

Pintsi, of blessed memory, did much in the areas of painting and song. Many Kremenetsers remember even now those evenings when Pintsi sang Yiddish folksongs, which he loved, for them.

[Page 41]

His paintings and engravings hung on many walls.

The youngest of the family, Mendel, was a conductor and composer. He formed several choirs in the city and was active in bringing music to working youth.

Pintsi came to Israel with the second Pioneer group in the early 1920s and was a founder of the Tel Yosef kibbutz. But he did not stay there long. When the Kfar Vitkin moshav was formed, Pintsi was one of its first members. There he set up an exemplary workshop where he worked until his last day. Without regard to the long working day on the moshav, he brought pleasure to those nearby.

Pintsi took part in all our memorial services and even in other gatherings and assemblies without regard for the difficulties of communicating with his village in the late evenings. Several years ago, he Hebraicized his family name to “Haral.”

With Pintsi's death, we have lost a dear member who carried a significant part of the soul of his birth city, the city of his childhood and early years, in his heart. Pintsi left behind his wife, two sons, and grandchildren.

May his memory be blessed.

[Page 42]

Bela Bernshteyn, of Blessed Memory

Some years ago we eulogized the central organizer of the Kremenets Emigrants Organization, Rive Bernshteyn, the “Mother of Kremenets,” as one of the editors of Davar called her in an article while she was still alive.

Some years later we eulogized Riva's sister Tsire, and now we have received the sad news that their older sister Bela has passed away in Buenos Aires, like her sister Rive, from a terrible illness. She was 75 years old.

Three times was Bela urgently called by her relatives to come from Argentina to Israel. Each of her trips to us was prompted by the illness or death of her sisters.

Bela was made of the same stuff as her father, Eli Bernshteyn, and her sister Rive. Like them, she devoted years of her life to working for the community. She worked devotedly for the worldwide organization YIVO. She was a delegate to all their conferences. She for a long time was active in the Kremenets landsmanshaft in Buenos Aires.

The letters she sent to us over the years were filled with pain because of those who murdered our martyrs. Each letter contained a blessing for those who do not allow the martyrs to be forgotten and encouragement for every initiative undertaken for that purpose.

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Bela was the last Mohican of Eli Bernshteyn's family, which was noted for its deep feelings for community interests.

Bela left behind her husband, a journalist and editor for one of the Jewish papers published in Argentina.

May her memory be blessed.

Among those who passed away this year is Menuche Frida Fisherman, who was 88. Some years ago, her husband, Avraham, died, and a year ago her son, Yehuda Tsvi, may his memory be a blessing. We were used to seeing the Fishermans at every memorial service and every organizational gathering.

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Their presence lent those encounters a feeling of our old home, because many of us were involved with the Zionist movement in our city, which was tied up with the Fisherman family. They were among the few of us Zionists in our city, middle-class people who made the Zionist idea a reality. They immigrated to Israel at the beginning of the 1920s. Ignoring the bleak prophecies of people from their class in the city, they chose to live their lives in Israel, where they continued their occupation of manufacturing soap. Thanks to their industriousness and energy, they developed a market for their products in Ramat Gan, where they lived, and then in Bnei Brak. They also developed a good reputation for community activities and generosity.

Frida, of blessed memory, as was her custom, attended the memorial services. The blows of fate that she suffered left signs on her face. But all of us who spoke with her were amazed at her wisdom and understanding, which remained sharp. On the evening of her death, she watched television with members of her family. Later, she did not feel well and gave up her soul.

Frida left behind two married daughters, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

May her memory be a blessing.

[Page 45]

Fanya Bangold Gindes, of Blessed Memory

Fanya came to Israel in 1929 and had to establish herself in a time of unemployment. For almost her whole time in Israel, she worked hard to participate in maintaining her family. She made the greatest efforts to enable her daughters to get a good education.

Her home was open to all Kremenetsers who came to Haifa. For many of them, it provided the first roof over their heads in Israel. For this reason, perhaps, a significant number of immigrants from Kremenets made their homes in Haifa.

Terrible fate did not spare this fine and good-hearted woman. She was often confined to bed. But she did not complain.

Even on those days when she felt her worst, she welcomed those who came to visit. Fanya was a person whose like no longer exists. All her friends and acquaintances mourn her loss.

Fanya left behind a husband and two daughters.

May her memory be blessed.

[Page 46]

Thanks to his initiative, the football stadium was built in Kremenets and a swimming pool was built at the Ikva, in Krulewski Mast, as well as two ski-jumping sites at Foyler Lake (Gnilaya Lake). He also did much to encourage sport among our city's Jewish young people.

After the war broke out in 1939, he was nominated to be the liaison officer between the Border Guard stationed in Kremenets and the garrisons stationed at Lutsk, Rovno, and Dubno. After the defeat of the Polish army, he crossed the border into Hungary and went via Yugoslavia to France. After France fell into German hands, he fled with the remnants of the Polish army to England, where he became a parachutist. With a group of parachutists, he jumped from a Halifax plane into occupied Poland in August 1942. After he received false documents from the Polish revolutionary underground movement, he was nominated to be in charge of the government's emigration and to oversee Volhynia, with his headquarters in Kovel. In 1944, the Germans tracked him down.

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They arrested him and sent him to a concentration camp. He was compelled to escape. He got to Warsaw and took part in the rebellion against the Nazis as commander of a company that was assaulting the town of Wilanów near Warsaw. With a cry of “Forward,” he led his company to the gates of the Wilanów palace, where the German Border Patrol's headquarters were found. His company invaded the palace, and the first to fall was Captain Julian Kozlowski from a German sniper's bullets. This was on August 18, 1944.

After his death, he received a significant decoration, the Military Cross for Valor.

While he lived in Kremenets, he was in close and friendly contact with the Jewish community and, as we mentioned, helped develop sports activities for young people. His friends and acquaintances remember him as a brave, liberal, and humanitarian.

The source of this information: “The Institute for Studying the History of Poland in the Underground in Landau.”

[Page 48]

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rivke Rapaport-Markavetski, of blessed memory. The elder sister of our colleague Duvid Rapaport. She is survived by her husband, four children, and nine grandchildren in Argentina and Israel.

In spring 1971 she was privileged to visit Israel with her husband and to be with her son Yosef and daughter-in-law and four grandchildren, and also with her youngest daughter Sara and son-in-law, who all immigrated to Israel and took up their current position in Israeli society.

Out of the large Rapaport family, four children were killed in Hitler's slaughter in Kremenets: Gitel with her husband and four children, Yakhed with her husband and child, and unmarried children Itsik and Leybush, may their memories be a blessing. Her brothers Yankel and Duvid and her youngest sister Sheyndel now live in New York and are active in the community.

In Buenos Aires, Rivke Rapaport-Markavetski was a beautiful representative of Kremenets Jewry.

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Books that Kremenets emigrants have missed. Over a short period, two books were written by Kremenets emigrants who have passed from the world: (1) The Pioneer Movement in Poland in 1932-1935 by Yisrael Otiker, of blessed memory, member of Kibbutz Naan. The book was published by Beit Lohamei Ha-Getaot in December 1972 and has 230 pages. (2) Derekh Chayim by Chanokh Rokhel, published in September 1973, by Kibbutz Tel Yosef. The book has 270 pages. A full description of each book is in a separate article in this booklet.

Three Kremenets families have come from Russia to settle in Israel. Over several months, these people have come to settle in Israel:

1. Feyge Hofshteyn née Biberman and her daughter Levye. Feyge is the widow of author Duvid Hofshteyn, who was killed by the Soviet government in 1952. They were in Israel in 1924-1929. Unable to settle here, they returned to the Soviet Union and lived in Kiev. The mother and daughter's arrival was covered by the Israeli press. Articles, with photographs, were published in Latest News, Maariv, and Molad. They are both in the refugee center in Beit Brodski in Ramat Aviv. The daughter, Levye, is a classical violinist and hopes to find a place in one of our orchestras. One member of the Biberman family still remains abroad, in Moscow–the older brother, Moshe. (A picture of Feyge in her youth is on page 305 of Pinkas Kremenets.)

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2. Yakov son of Yitschak Kremenitski, his wife, and their daughter. The only survivors of the many-branched Kremenitski family recently arrived from Montreal and settled in the town of Tsur Shalom near Haifa. Yakov is a dentist, and his wife is an office worker in the state lottery in Haifa. Our member, Betsalel Golberg, a resident of Haifa, has given them great help in settling in the country.

3. Risye Guterman née Fishman. The well-known doctor, widow of Shlome Guterman, immigrated to Israel from Kiev a while back together with her son, professor of mathematics Moshe Guterman and his family. Risye is in the refugee center in Beit Brodski in Ramat Aviv, and her son is at Bar-Ilan University. (See her picture in Pinkas Kremenets, p. 305.)

We wish the three families an easy adjustment, good health, and that they should be happy here.

Moshe Pak and his wife, who came to settle in Israel at the end of 1972, have temporarily been living in Bat Yam until they find a permanent home. Our club organized a welcome party for them on 1/24/73. The invited guests, mostly Kremenetsers with relatives in Argentina, held a special evening when they heard news about Kremenets landsmen's way of life in Argentina. Mr. Pak is a qualified building specialist. He is prepared to be active in this business in Israel. Now they are finding time in Buenos Aires to liquidate their businesses and gather the funds needed for investment in Israel.

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On April 28, 1973, our organization met with a group of landsmen who were in Israel at the Levinzon Library in the Kibbutzim College. This was a meeting that will long be remembered by all who participated.

The guests included William (Volke) Kagan and his wife Shulamit née Kerner, Bronye Burbil-Bakst, Sepi Margulis, daughter of Munye Katz's sister, all from New York; and Leybel from Buenos Aires. They were all eager for the meeting and set aside their other plans in Israel to attend. We had invited their Kremenets relatives and good friends. They came from far and near. The hall was too small to hold them all, but people adjusted. One could say that the informal tightness contributed to the warm, elevated atmosphere of the meeting.

The streets and byways of Kremenets, the Great Synagogue, Levinzon's well-known prayer house, and the trains pictured on the walls, along with the many bright faces, opened everyone's hearts so that conversations abounded and brought up memories of the past and feelings of reality.

The sound of the voices made it seem like a holiday. One heard the guests' conversations with great pleasure, those of Volke Kagan, secretary of the Kremenets Society in New York and of Leybel from Buenos Aires. Both described in a lively manner the state of the Kremenets landsmanshaft in their homes.

Shike Golberg told some curious stories about some Kremenetsers when their forces assaulted the Germans. Chulio Kaufman (Shikhman) talked about the recent past. Manus Goldenberg described pictures from the past and read his feuilleton that had been published in the Kremenitser Shtime in 1932.

The organization's part in the evening was quite appropriate. As we have already said, it will not soon be forgotten.

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Mara [sic] Katz–Member of the Directorate of the Weizmann Institute. Professor Mark Katz, son of Dr. Bentsion Katz, former director of the Tarbut School in Kremenets, has lived in New York for many years and is a world-renowned mathematician. A year ago, he was nominated to be a directing member of the scholarly institute named for Chayim Weizmann in Rehovot. In this connection, Professor Katz comes to Israel from time to time to take part in directorate meetings and meet with friends and relatives. On one of his visits, on his own initiative, he donated $3,500 in memory of his father to our stipend fund at Tel Aviv University. We congratulate our fellow citizen on his nomination to this high position, and we wish him success.

The Research Prize in the name of Shmuel Shnayder, of blessed memory, was given on 11/18/72 by the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants to Mr. Ortsion Bartana for his seminar project toward his second degree, on the subject “The Hebrew Novel in the Time of the Enlightenment: Yehuda Leyb Gordon and Brandshteter.” The prize consisted of 1,250 Israeli lirot and was donated by our member Zev Shnayder from Detroit in the United States in memory of his father. The awarding of this prize was recommended by Professor Sh. Simonson. The ceremony took place at Tel Aviv University in the presence of the representatives of the Society and of the university, led by Dr. Y. Hafrati, leader of the Institute for Research in Hebrew Literature.

Professor Alkushi delivered a wide-ranging lecture about R' Yitschak Ber Levinzon and emphasized the work of the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants in upholding his fame. Our member Litev described the personality of the donor, Zev Shnayder, admirer of RYB”L and initiator of the establishment of the library that bears his name.

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Sculptural bust of RYB”L. Well-known sculptor Yakov Epshteyn from Kremenets, who lives in Bat Yam, has on his own initiative sculpted a bust of RYB”L, and now it has to be cast in metal. Our member Yakov Epshteyn did this work voluntarily, but casting the bust in metal will cost 3,000 Israeli lirot. The committee has tried to assemble donors to help with the sum, and they hope to receive further donations in order to assemble the total. The plan is to display the sculpture in an appropriate place in the library.

Personal news from the committee. During the year, several generous members have volunteered to work with the committee. At the same time, member Shmuel Tsizin has withdrawn from the committee due to health concerns.

Here is a list of committee members in alphabetical order: (1) Argaman, Avraham, (2) Ot-Yakar, Mordekhay, (3) Bernshteyn, Tsvi, (4) Goldenberg, Manus, (5) Golberg, Yehoshue, (6) Goldzberg, Yitschak, (7) Vilderman-Barshap, Leye, (8) Zats, Klara, (9) Taytelman, Shmuel, (10) Teper, Fishel, (11) Nadir, Rachel, (12) Rokhel, Yitschak, (13) Shtern, Berel (Boris). Outside Tel Aviv but working permanently with the committee is member Yitschak Portnoy of Haifa.

The editors of Kol Yotsei Kremenets are the following: (1) M. Goldenberg, (2) Y. Rokhel, (3) A. Argaman, (4) M. Ot-Yakar, (5) Y. Golberg.

On the committee for the RYB”L Library and the stipend fund are the following: (1) P. Litev, (2) Y. Rokhel, (3) A. Argaman, from the Organization, and from the university: (1) Dr. Y. Hafrati, (2) Professor G. Alkushi, (3) Dr. N. Gobrin.

The control committee for the Organization: (1) Y. Portnoy–Haifa, (2) Dov Shtern–Holon, (3) Shmuel Shnayder–Rehovot, (4) Avraham Gokun–Haifa. This committee has so far held one meeting.

[Page 54]

On Saturday night, April 27 of this year, our hall in the Kibbutzim College hosted a moving meeting between us and our landsmen who are visiting Israel: Yosef Margolis and his wife Miryam, his sister Manye Margolis, from Canada, and Nute Kiperman and his wife Chayke from Argentina.

This is Nute's second and Manye's third visit to Israel. Yosef had dreamed for his whole life of seeing Israel, but his health had not allowed him to do so. But now, after a required operation, his years-long dream was realized. People could easily see how happy he and his wife were as soon as they crossed the threshold of the reception room. Immediately, all of the assembled Kremenetsers of all ages and statuses felt like a single close family.

In informal conversation around the beautifully decorated tables, people brought up nostalgic memories from old Kremenets. Manus greeted and presented the guests. He recalled several interesting episodes from that time, memories that are deeply etched in our hearts. With warm words, Yosef Margolis thanked his landsmen in Israel for their many-faceted activities to remember our martyrs and for maintaining close contact with Kremenetsers abroad through Kol Yotsei Kremenets and through private correspondence. He said that the landsmanshaft in Canada had ceased to exist because almost all its active members have passed on.

Yosef Margolis is active in the Hebrew and Jewish school system in Canada and America and donates large sums to them. Nute Kiperman, a tireless member of the board of our landsmanshaft in Buenos Aires, and his wife, Chayke, held the audience captive as they described their dramatic survival story at the time of the German occupation of our area.

[Page 55]

Later, as a leader of an “annihilation battalion,” Nute took part in the dangerous battle against the murderers of Jews: the Ukrainian bandits who operated around Kremenets.

Hearty singing ended the meeting as the hour neared midnight.

And so ended this meeting of all meetings.

After the meeting, our important landsman Yosef Margolis pledged a sum of $4,000 for the stipend fund and a similar amount for the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants.

We hope to see him and his family soon again in Israel.

[Page 56]

We present an ongoing list of funds received recently from Kremenetsers abroad, landsmanshafts, and individuals. A previous list is in booklet 10.

For donations to the stipend fund, see page 17. There we provide a full list, including sums from abroad.

For Voice of Kremenets Emigrants
12/28/72	Max Desser, Canada	$ 20
12/28/72	Efraim Byk, America	20
1/23/73	David Rapoport,New York	25
3/4/73	Aharon Gelerint, Milan, Italy	30
4/22/73	David Rapoport, New York	33
4/28/73	Kremenitser Society, New York	50
5/6/83	Mark Desser, Canada	15
5/15/73	Argentina Organization, by Chayim Nudel	20
5/15/73	Max Desser, Canada	20
7/5/73	Bronya Bakst, New York	30
8/9/73	Mandelshtat-Panakh, New York	20
10/4/73	Morris Medler, Tucson, Arizona, America	20
10/26/73	Norman Desser, Brighton, Mass.	50
2/21/74	Yitschak Vakman, New York	50
4/19/74	Argentina Organization, by Neta Kiperman	100	$503
For new immigrant aid
4/19/73	Yitschak Vakman, New York	$100
4/4/74	Yitschak Vakman, New York	100	$200
For other organizational expenses
5/6/73	Zalman Karner, New York	10
5/6/73	Velvel Kagan	6
5/6/73	Shulamit Boyer-Karner, New York	20
7/5/73	Zev Shnayder, Detroit	50
1/3/74		$200	$286
Total			$989
Given in Israel, for Voice of Kremenets Emigrants
6/28/73	Yisrael Laybel, Argentina	I£ 30
7/5/73	Chayim Taytsher, Brooklyn, by Leyb Shvarts	105
7/24/73	Hinda Shvartsapel, New York	415
Total			I£550

[Page 57]

The Board of the Kremenets Landsmen Union, the Women's Committee, and all members send their deepest sympathy to the following families: Roykhel, Mardish, Berger-Sitshuk, and Kitay–our dear landsmen whose children fell as sacrifices on the altar of the Yom Kippur War, defending the existence of their people. Jewish people around the world mourn the heroes of the Israel Defense Force who were killed in the struggle for redemption in the hope of achieving a lasting peace. This is our hope.

In this picture we see some of the participants in the memorial service as they were presented in the article in The Prese. In the center we see Cantor Mordekhay Katz, secretary of the Union.

[Page 58]

Sad Announcement

The board, the women, and all members of the Argentine Union of Kremenets and Vicinity express their deepest sorrow at what the Shukhman family and all the landsmen of Kremenets have lost at the passing of our landsman Barukh Shukhman, peace be upon him, who was a pillar of our organization and who contributed greatly by publishing the Kremenets yizkor book in his own establishment. We hope that the mourning widow and son should know no more sorrow. We should all take comfort in the good reputation he left behind.

Chayim Mardish, President
Mordekhay Katz, Secretary

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