[Page 725]

List of Events

[Page 726]

	October		Some of those expelled return from the Russian side, some try to sneak across the borders and reach Bialystock. A few families manage to enter Warsaw in secret.
	November	Kislev - 5700	Hunger, children dying, destruction of life, burning of the synagogue and desecration of the cemetery
			Daring escapes
	December	Kislev - 5700	A second collective monetary punishment. Forced labor. Brutality.
3	"		Third collective monetary punishment. Rumors of expulsion. Liquidation of the community and the second and final expulsion of all the Jews to Nashelsk, a distance of 21 km from Serock, arriving in the evening. Murders on route.
5	"	23 Kislev - 5700	Imprisonment of the Jews - more than 1000 persons - in the Great Synagogue of the community of Nashelsk. Brutality. Murder nearby.
6 - 7	"		“Walk of Blood” to the train station in Nashelsk, a distance of several kilometers, confinement in freight cars of two trains.
			Confusing travel of the train back and forth.
8	"	Second day of Hanukkah, 5700	End of train trip. The Jews dispersed among the communities of Biale Podlesek (the majority), Lukov and Lomaz. A few settled in Mazritz, Radzin and Shdaltz.
1940 - 5700
			The last of the deported are dispersed in the Jewish communities of Biale Podlesek, Lukov and Lomaz.
			Hunger, forced labor and persecution
			Tens of the families secretly leave these communities in order to reach Bialystock, in captured Russian territory.
			Some men from Serock sent to forced labor in Beltz.

[Page 727]

1941 - 5701
In the beginning of the year			Transfer of the elderly and unemployed to Opola, a village near Rusos.
			Prohibition to leave residences and to use private or public transportation.
At the end of the year			An order to hand over all furs to the Germans. A few Jews found hiding places with Polish families in the villages and began living as Christians.
			A number of babies were given by their parents to Polish families in order to save their lives.
1942 - 5702
	March		Prohibition of Jews living in Biale to work in stores or factories dealing with food
		After Passover 1942	Execution of tens of Jews including some from our city
10 - 11	June		The first transfer of Jews from Biale to Moritch, and setting up the ghetto
17	August	4 Elul	Execution of all the Jews of Lomaz in the forest near the city
			The second transfer of Jews from Biale to Moritch
26	August		Heroic death of Zisha Goldberg z”l in the central square of Biale Podlask, due to his resistance to the terrible Nazis
5	October		The first transfer of Jews from Lukov and concentrating them in Moritch.
1943 - 5703
2	May		The last transfer of Jews from Lukov and concentrating them in Moritch.
17 - 18	July	14-15 Tammuz	The annihilation of the Jews in Moritch, where in the past year were concentrated all the survivors of the communities: Biale Podlask, Lukov, etc.
			The survivors of our city were dispersed over the whole area of occupied Poland.
			Some took part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Some connected with the partisans and tens of others live as Aryans.

[Page 728]

1944 - 5704
The first part of the year			Annihilation
			In the forests, camps and various hiding places. We move from one place to another waiting for the waiting for the fall of the enemy
End of the year			Defeat of the Nazi enemy on the Eastern front and the beginning of hope
1945 - 5705
The first part of the year			Defeat of the Nazi enemy and their full surrender in the month of May.
			The few survivors gather together in the city of Lodz
The second half of the year			Beginning of the repatriation from Russia to Poland
			Return of several families from Serock. The beginning of a small group in Warsaw.
			Flow of Jewish refugees toward the refugee camps of the Jewish Brigade in Italy and among them the first remnants from Serock.
1946 - 5706
The first part of the year			Large repatriation from Russia
			Groups of Serockites in Warsaw, Lodz, and Lower Silesia
The second half of the year			Pogroms against the Jews in Kielcz
			The survivors from Poland flee to refugee camps all over occupied Germany and strive to go to Eretz Yisrael.
			Contact is established with the survivors in Poland and in the camps in Germany, Austria and Italy.

[Page 729]

1947-1948 - 5707-5708
			Almost all of our survivors left Poland and the refugee camps in Germany and Austria.
			Embark on the ships of the “Ma'apilim” (illegal immigration to Palestine under British Mandate)
			Arrested and put in detention camps in Cyprus
			Some emigrate to the United States, France and Argentina.
			The great majority of our survivors find refuge in the State of Israel.

[Page 730]

Thirty five years have passed since I left my town, the domain of my childhood and my youth. On the day I left, on my way to Israel, I was accompanied by my family, and the adolescents that I was near and far from in opinion – everyone.

In my heart, I harbored a fear for their fortunes, and at the last minute, I turned to them and cried my fearful warning, “Come with me! Follow me!”

In my mind's eye, I can still see the town – and I will remember it forever – and all its forms: gloomy from the outside, but full of life and vibrancy from within.

And here it is: my parents, my family, and my friends; the anxious traders and storekeepers; our diligent mothers; the chorus of the Beit Rabban babes in the kheders, the schools, in the streets and in the houses; the weary and sweaty tradesmen ; the street porters and the village salesmen; the vibrant youngsters tortured with a yearning for perfection and liberation; the politicians who were silent about their status quo and the activists wanting change ; the Jewish imprint of the city's hill and valley with the river Narew, from within the echoing of whose waves Yiddish could be heard; the hidden places in the surrounding meadows and the hills.

A full world, whole worlds.

And my heart is languishing, and my entire being cries out from the ruin, the destruction, the devastation, the doom.

I hear the moan of the tortured, which accompanies me with every step and every stride. From the few who stood and fell at the hands of the accursed German Nazis before the whole world. The leaders of the free world knew of the annihilation of my people, and felt it, but did not help to the full extent of their aid.

Darkness covers the land. Still and secretly floats the question: Am I – are we innocent of all sin and transgression? Did I do – did we do everything here for them there? Here, life flows as normal, there, time flows silently to the land! ... Is there to be no atonement for this sin? The violin of wonders shatters and stops.

[Page 731]

I walk amongst your ruins, my town, I look for life yet there is none. For you, my town, for the burned and plundered Serock, I weep, and ask about the fate of your remnants. I part from you in awe and love – goodbye to your dust, a curse on your plunderers, and good hope to your descendants in the homeland and at all ends of the world. Yisgadal v'yiskadash (May he be exalted and glorified) …

Your son,
Yechiel Meir Vardimon
Son of Friedel and David Varshevski (may their blood be avenged)

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