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[Pages 342-346]

To the west of Rohatyn lay a little shtetl called Knihynicze. Jesters called it Canaan. Three hundred Jewish families lived there, concentrated around the so-called Ringplatz and its surrounding streets. The other dwellers in the shtetl were Ukrainians.

Knihynicze possessed its own Jewish communal board, rabbi, dayan, ritual slaughterers and other religious officials. Jews were employed in trade. They dealt with the non-Jews and so earned their livelihood. There were no reputable local schools, and this influenced the cultural level of the shtetl. The few boys and girls who received a real education didn't know what to do with themselves in the generally lowly shtetl. Jewish parents sent their children to learn in the cheder or in the Talmud Torah. The education of the growing children was entirely restricted to this. There were therefore, in our shtetl, many people steeped in religious learning.

According to the stories of the older Jewish residents, Jews had lived in the shtetl for over 400 years. There, they survived several military invasions. The old people used to boast of the former splendor of the shtetl. In the time of the Polish-Turkish wars, when the fighting came to our area, the Polish general's headquarters was located in a village fifteen kilometers from Knihynicze.

There were eminent rabbis in Knihynicze such as the righteous Monastritsher rabbi and Rabbi Weiss, later a rabbi in Czerniowce.

Jews used to dress in their traditional long black coats. They grew beards and sidelocks and observed the 613 commandments. They dealt in grain of inferior quality. They had to rinse the grain in water in order to clean it. This was done in the little river Swirz, which ran through the shtetl. It was hard work, but only after they had finished washing the dirty wheat, could they receive their appropriate due. Jews worked at this all day and so earned their livelihood, but after the work was done, they sat in the Beit Midrash/house of study over a page of Talmud.

Stories were often told of the great dispute surrounding the selection of Rabbi Yosef Shaul Natansohn as the shtetl's rabbi. Learned Jews opposed him. Their reason for doing so was not given. Years later, Rabbi Natansohn was chosen to be chief rabbi of Lemberg. Certain prominent householders of Lemberg came to escort him to his new residence. The entire retinue, led by the rabbi, rode through Knihynicze. Coming to the little river where the Jews in their long black coats, beards and sidelocks were washing their wheat, the rabbi held up his entourage and addressed them as follows: “Do you see these field-worker Jews? They didn't want to choose me as their rabbi…”

The Knihynicze branch of 'Torah vi-Avodah' (Torah and service)

Shmuel Rebish—head of the community of Knihynicze, his son-in-law Shimon-Yitschok Alboir, Lybush, Martsis (children,) Yaakov Tabak, Reizel Altboir

There had also been a Rabbi Yehudah (Yidl) in our shtetl who was reputed to have been a secret saint. He accepted neither fees nor petitions. A tent was put up over his grave. In his lifetime, this rabbi was so beloved by the Jews that the Knihynicze Society in America is called by his name.

At the beginning of this century, Rabbi Avrumtshe Langner, the son of the Stratyner rebbe, was appointed Rabbi of Knihynicze, and as dayan, Rabbi Dovid Halevi Kimsol. The dayan was a respectable young man and a good prayer leader, known in the rabbinical world for his Responsa. He was the author of many religious books, most of which were unpublished. When I studied with him, he would often show me letters from other rabbis who sent him questions on a number of matters. Once, when I was with him, I saw a letter from a rabbi in Kleinmehrn, so far was Rabbi Kimsol known. His grandson, Rabbi Hanoch Henech, was, through me, appointed dayan of Knihynicze on the eve of my departure for the land of Israel.

My grandfather, Yitzhak Tabak, of blessed memory, who was born in 1828, recounted that in olden times, there were military barracks in Knihynicze where a regiment of Hungarians was stationed. In the time of the 1848 revolution, when the Hungarian leader Kossuth raised the flag of revolution against the Austrian monarchy, the Hungarian regiment left Knihynicze on a certain night and went away to Hungary. As is known, the Russian Czar offered to help Kaiser Franz-Josef put down the revolution. Franz-Josef accepted this help, and the Russian Army marched through Knihynicze on their way to Hungary. Jews were filled with fear of the Cossacks who were marching through town and could have caused great trouble. The Jews of Knihynicze turned to the liberal Austrian government and asked that the Russian Army march through Knihynicze by night and not during the day. In this way, our community was saved from Cossack plunder. The dayan, Rabbi Berel, also told me about this event about which he had read in the annals of the shtetl. These annals were destroyed during World War I.

The real trouble for the Jews began with the outbreak of World War I. A few Jewish families, including mine, saved themselves by fleeing to Bohemia. Most Jews remained, however, and suffered great hardship at the hands of the Russians and, more to the point, at the hands of the local Ukrainian population. When the Russian Army left Knihynicze, in 1915, they deported the entire male population of the shtetl, including Rabbi Berel, into the depths of Russia. The women and children remained in the shtetl, untouched. The yoke of earning a livelihood now fell upon the women. The shtetl was nearly empty. Even worse was the situation of the children, as at this point, there weren't even any cheders. Children grew up without supervision and without education. This generation of youth didn't know a letter from a hole in the ground.

We returned in the beginning of 1918. The Austrian monarchy had fallen. The Western Ukrainian Republic was established in our area, and our troubles grew greater. We put up with a lot from the Ukrainian soldiers who openly robbed and plundered the Jews, who simply let them do it. On top of this, the Ukrainians organized their own cooperatives in competition with the Jewish businesses. Strong propaganda was circulated, instructing the non-Jewish population not to buy from Jews.

It was now clear to us that Jews had no future in Knihynicze. A group of young men and women decided to establish a Zionist organization in order to instill the local Jewish youth with the spirit of Zionism and to prepare them to immigrate to the land of Israel.

Our efforts met with many hardships. The Jewish youth, as was said before, were almost completely without education. It was difficult to lead them in enlightening cultural activities. With great patience, however, we managed to break through the silent wall and establish a respectable Zionist organization, particularly after the end of the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Bolshevik wars. During this time, the Bolsheviks were in our shtetl three times, but in the end, they were forced to abandon it completely.

We then established a good Hebrew school, with a teacher from Histadrut HaMorim Hebraiim B'Galicia (Organization of Hebrew Teachers in Galicia). We prepared ourselves to go to the land of Israel. Of course, there was some commotion, especially on the part of our elders who could not agree with the notion of no longer waiting for the days of the Messiah and already planning to go to Israel to build the land…

The first meeting of our newly established Zionist organization was held in the woman's section of the Beit Midrash. The Hasidim tried to frighten me, screaming that I would bring misfortune upon the shtetl. My father, of blessed memory, was the chairman of the Jewish communal board and an official of the great synagogue.

The 'B'not Mizrachi' (daughters of the east) association in Knyhinicze

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