The idea of perpetuating the memory of Skala's Jewish community and telling future generations about its rich past and tragic demise, was discussed as far back as the 1950's, when the few dozen survivors of Skala made it to their next rest stop, whether in Israel or in America. However, it was not until November 19, 1960, at the annual Memorial Meeting in New York for the “Martyrs of Skala”, that a decision was formally taken to prepare and publish a Skala Yizkor Book. At about the same time, the Israel Society of Former Residents of Skala decided to do the same thing. An America–Israel Book Committee was formed and a call went out to all of our hometown survivors to participate in the project by giving testimony, evidence, memoirs, pictures and documents as well as the necessary financial means to attain our goal.

Long and hard were the birth pains of this book on Skala. To begin with, we had thought that the most difficult aspect of publishing the Skala book would be financial. Soon, however, we realized that the biggest difficulty was the lack of historical materials and other documentary sources. It became clear to us that the most important sources for the history of Jewish life in Skala lay in our memories, in the memories of the small handful of Skala's Jewish survivors in America and in Israel.

This awareness, that we, the survivors are the only and the last carriers of the 600–year history of the destroyed Skala Jewish community strengthened our resolve that the spiritual inheritance of Jewish Skala, her moves and ways of life, her communal, cultural and charitable institutions, her personalities and characters, her folklore and humour and the awesome pain and sorrow of her destruction, must be noted and perpetuated.

After many years of ceaseless efforts, struggles with apathy, differences of opinion as well as disappointments, the Skala Book became a reality thanks to the devotion, persistence and the stubborn resolve of a few individuals.

The contents of the Skala Book are not as rich as we had hoped and wanted it to be; this is so not only because of the already mentioned lack of historical sources, but principally, because of the cruel fate of the Holocaust years which tore away from us practically all of the Skala's leaders and public personalities who surely knew more about Skala and were probably more gifted writers than we, the survivors.

To the credit of those who participated in the Skala Book, we must note that no one of us is a professional writer and that each contribution is, to the best of our ability, true and authentic testimony to the lively, creative Jewish Skala of the past as well as to the final pain and suffering.

In preparing this Skala Book, we kept in mind that our children as well as other interested readers do not read Yiddish, our mother tongue and, therefore, almost one half of the important historical articles in the Book as well as the picture captions are printed in both English and Hebrew. This, we hope will help our children and grandchildren to draw closer to the memory of our birthplace – the town of Skala – and to the spiritual inheritance of the Jewish way of life in Eastern Galicia – a way of life which perished in the flames of the Holocaust.

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1. The Jewish Community from its inception until 1914

The town of Skala lies in western Podolia on the right (western) bank of the river Zbrucz. This river flows in an almost straight north–south line, winding through a picturesque valley, narrowing and widening in turn and empties into the larger river Dniester, some 35 kilometres south of Skala. At the mouth of the river lies the town of Okup, birthplace of the Baal–Shem–Tov.

Skala and its environs typify the Podolian (Southeastern Galician) landscape, known for its beauty, lush colours and fertile soil. It is an area of hills and valleys, dense forests and broad fields – and land rich in water with a temperate climate. Sumer is comparatively hot and rainy while, in the winter, heavy snows are often accompanied by bitter cold. Particularly delightful, however, is the Podolia region in the other two seasons of the year; in the bloom of the warm, fragrant spring and in the flaming red and gold treetops of the fall.

In this beautiful landscape is set Skala with its characteristic small–town centre and the rural suburbs that surround it on the north, west and south. The town is built on a high hill whose slopes descend steeply eastward into the Zbrucz river valley, and westward into the narrow gulch – almost a canyon – made by a nameless stream called simply “Potik”. The southern projection of the hill is a protruding, sharp rock, protected by the river valley and by the depression of the stream. From this rock rise the ruins of the ancient fortress with its past so significant

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A view from the Turkish fortress across the river Zbrucz

Skala exemplified a “mixed” settlement characteristic of Galicia – a Jewish town surrounded by suburbs, populated mostly by Ukrainian peasants with a sprinkling of Polish families among them. A border–town, Skala was always

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vulnerable to attacks by various invaders and was destroyed more than once in their wake, passing from one power to another.

The history of Skala beings in the thirteenth century. A Ruthenian–Ukrainian duke built the fortress on the side of the hill best protected by its steep slopes. However, by the end of the same century, it was destroyed by the Tartars. The Polish King Kazimir the Great conquered Podolia in 1331 and presented Skala to Duke Kozibrodski. This duke rebuilt and restored the fortress and it is thought that even the, a small number of Jews had settled in the vicinity of the fortress, supplying its needs. In 1395, Witold, Grand Duke of Lithuania, led a campaign against the Polish duke Kozibrodski, conquered several fortified settlements including Skala, and settled therein some of his own subjects. Upon Witold's death in 1430, the Poles retrieved the Skala fortress and until 1772, the entire region was part of the Polish Kingdom.

Skala was open to endless conquest and destruction by Tartars and Wallachians (Romanians) as witnessed by various written decrees of privilege addressed from time–to–time by the Polish rulers to the residents of Skala, freeing them from certain levies of the royal treasury “because this border–region suffers heavily from enemy attacks”. These privilege grants are preserved in the archives of the Polish Kingdom from the years 1510, 1518 and 1539.

The 1570 census, taken during the reign of King Zygmunt August, shows that Skala was a country–town (Starostwo), had 232 houses, 10 of them Jewish for which the Jews paid one zloty (gold piece) rent, whereas the Christians paid on ten groschen. In 1615, the Tartars again devastated Skala, burned it and let its inhabitants, men, women and children, captive to the slave markets of Crimea. In 1621, Duke Lubomirski established his military camp on the ruins of the fortress and prepared to attack the Turks and Wallachians from there. A mission from the enemy arrived in camp, ostensibly to talk peace, but actually to spy. The mission was detained until the return of the supreme commander, Hetman Chodkiewicz, who had set out from the Skala fortress, leading his army to victory over the mighty

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Turkish army near Chocim on the Dniester River, 35 kilometres south of Skala. The town was rebuilt and enjoyed relative peace for about twenty years.

During the reign of King Jan Casimir, the town was conquered several times by the Tartars, Wallachians, Turks and the Cossacks of Bohdan Chmielnicki and was again totally destroyed, its inhabitants either slaughtered or taken captive. Though the Skala fortress was damaged, it was restored again and again. From the census taken in 1665, we can conclude that there were then only 15 families living in the town and, though reinforced by walls and turrets, the fortress stood empty. The last census of the Polish reign taken in 1765, shows that in the town of Skala, dwelled on Jews! Employed as innkeepers, tenant–farmers, small traders and peddlers. The ruined fortress was rebuilt as a palace for the country–squire, Adam Tarlo, but burned down when struck by lightning a few years later and was never again restored. Its fortified walls stand on their foundation to this day.

In 1772, the year of the first partition of Poland, Skala passed, along with the entire region, to Austrian control. In 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte turned over the area of Tarnopol, including Skala, to Tsar Alexander I of Russia, but after the Congress of Vienna, the district reverted to Austria.

In the 19^th century, Skala was the most opulent possession among the many estates of the Counts Goluchowski, a family of Polish nobles (Szlachta) of great influence in Galicia as well as in the court of the Austrian monarch.

Between the two World Wars, Skala was a Polish frontier–town. In September, 1939, Skala, together with eastern Galicia, was annexed by the Soviet Union to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. From the end of June 1941, until the end of March, 1944, it was occupied by Nazi Germany.

It is safe to assume that a Jewish settlement existed in Skala as early as the 12^th and 13^th centuries, as we have knowledge of Jews living then in neighbouring localities. First mention is made of the Jews in Skala in the 1560 census, according to which ten Jewish families resided in the city. The Jewish settlement grew in the period following, and in the 1765 census,

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they numbered 362 souls. This latter source states that in the town only Jews lived, employed as tenants and petty merchants. Despite the twists of fate that befell the town, and particularly its Jewish community, the Jewish settlement developed continuously, both in number and in prosperity, from the 18^th century until World War I. Several factors contributed to this, among them the fact that Skala was a frontier–town with both a customs–house and the potential for large–scale smuggling which contributed to the development of legal as well as illegal commerce. Moreover, the Jews of Skala benefitted from the benevolent attitudes of the Counts Goluchowski, landholders of Skala, among them Agenor Senior (1812–1875), governor–general of Galicia and minister of the interior of Austria. (His brother, the philosopher, Joseph Goluchowski, was a close friend of the great Polish poet, Adam Michiewicz, and became famous for his plan to solve the Jewish problem by establishing a Jewish state in the Caucasus). Agenor Goluchowski Junior (1849–1921), son of the senior Azgenor, was a diplomat–statesman, and for several years, held the post of foreign minister of Austria–Hungary. His son was the last count who lived in the ancestral palace of Skala and attended to the affairs of the enormous estate. These Polish noblemen conducted extensive commercial transactions with the Jews of Skala.

The economic and professional structure of the Jewish populace was quite diverse, ranging from porter and peasant to wealthy land–owner, from market–peddler to well–to–do exporter with business abroad. In the 19^th century, two wealthy Jews acquired farming estates in the vicinity of Skala – Yehoshua Drimmer, in the village of Bosyri, and Eliezer Seidman, in Krzywcze. Of importance to the economy of the Jews of Skala were several oil presses for the production of lubricants which were also exported abroad. Raw materials for the manufacture of these products were imported from Russia. A brewery owned by the Counts Goluchowski was leased to two Jews; its product too was sold abroad. Likewise, a large flour mill of the Counts' was leased to Jews. Jews also owned distilleries for whiskey and liqueurs, which were marketed

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throughout the region. Two Jews imported coral necklaces from Italy, destined finally to be smuggled into Russia for sale there. The export of eggs to western Europe was also controlled by Jews and continued so in sizeable proportions until World War II. In the beginning of this century, export of beans, peas, chickpeas and flax began to develop in Skala. These products were bought mostly in Russia and transported to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, England and Spain and even to the United States, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

There were, as well, large exporters of wheat, rye, oats and barley providing, of course, steady employment for hundreds of families in the community: buyers of grain from peasants, carters, drivers, watchmen, porters, clerks, and …. smugglers. Money–changers did excellent business with these smugglers. Certain products were duty–free and were thus transported openly over the border at the Zbrucz river. Great quantities of cattle feed were bought in Russia and sold to farmers and farm–tenants in Austria–Galicia. Poultry dealers bought geese in Russia whose flesh, fat and livers were much in demand among the population. Various other products were bought and sold, wholesale and retail, by the experienced merchants of Skala.

Large shops for fabrics, woollens, clothing, leather for shoes and boots, lotions, groceries and hardware stores, tools, metals and farm implements simple and sophisticated, displayed their ware to the entire area. One hardware dealer was the agent of several manufacturing companies in Vienna, Prague and Brno. Again, much of this merchandise was smuggled into Russia, where anything that came from the West would be gobbled up.

A few well–to–do Jews dealt in building materials and lumber for construction and carpentry. Many of the “Polish roads” and railways were in need of large quantities of stone and gravel, as paved roads were unknown at the time. This material was taken from local stone–quarries and the merchants of Skala shipped it to Tarnopol, Stanislawow and Zloczow.

Most dealers in fabrics, clothes, leather goods, shoes and boots drew the bulk of their income from fairs in the neighbouring towns. They would split their week in two, spending three days at the fairs and two, tending their stores at home.

Craftsmen held an important place in town: tailors, several of them famous throughout the district, shoemakers with fine

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reputations, tinsmiths, glaziers, carpenters and locksmiths – some expert and famous – bakers and even blacksmiths, a craft which required great physical stamina and was ordinarily the province of Ukrainians alone.

A fascinating chapter in the history of economic activities of Jewish Skala was written by the smugglers, whom the Jews called “peckel–machers”. This dangerous but profitable operation evolved in Skala over generations, and though few actually engaged in it, the smugglers gained notoriety, even in distant towns, by the fear they instilled in both the Russian frontier guards and the Austrian gendarmes. The border seethed with life by night. In the winter, when the river was frozen, smuggling was more difficult than in the summer. To name all the kinds of goods that were smuggled would be quite a task – anything that required payment of duty and was in wide demand, became an item for smuggling. This meant profits for merchants who ordered the goods from distant places, as well as for the storekeepers connected with the smugglers and the money–changers and money–lenders. Corals, snuff, cigarette paper, whiskey, liqueurs, fabrics, skins and furs – this is but a small sample of the types of smuggled goods. Smuggling included the danger of running into the border guards, of violent clashes and of being apprehended and sentenced to long prison terms. Bands of smugglers competed, even fought with each other, for customers and sources of supply; the competition led to acts of revenge, even to murder. Many years before World War I, one such case was known in Skala. The story circulated for quite a while among Jews and Gentiles alike, and was widely reported in the press all over Galicia.

The smugglers were also involved in carrying people across the border from Russia to Galicia. A surge of such refugees flooded the border in 1905, at the time of the Russo–Japanese war when young Jews began to flee conscription into the armies of the hated Tsar. These refugees were assisted by their brethren in Skala and while most emigrated to the United States, some joined the second “Aliyah” to the land of Israel and others remained permanently in Skala.

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The Skala entry in the Polska Starozytna, volume 3, by Balinksi–Lipinski

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Nearly all the Jews of Skala devoutly adhered to their religious tradition; few were secular “free–thinkers”. Hasidism was deeply rooted in their hearts; in this very corner of Galicia, the Baal–Shem–Tov himself was born and lived. Here, Reb Israel of Rosanoy crossed the border in his escape from Russia in the mid–nineteenth century. He founded the Sadogura dynasty and his following in Skala was quite large. The rebbe of Wizhnitz, however, also had a large community of followers and frequent disputes between the two groups led to open displays of animosity. Of course, Skala, therefore, had separate sets of religious functionaries: two rabbis, two slaughterers, etc.

Of the town's famous rabbis, mention should be made of Rabbi Shlomo Drimmer, a well–known religious authority of the early nineteenth century and author of the treatise Beth–Shlomo. His son, Rabbi Abraham Drimmer, author of Beerah Shel Miryam; and his grandson, Rabbi Nuta Drimmer who wrote glosses on his father's work. The son of this last, Rabbi Shlomo Drimmer, studied law at the University of Krakow and attained the position of deputy Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army with the rank of captain. In September, 1939, he was detained by the Soviet army and died in prison. Rabbi Nuta's younger son, Rabbi Yehuda Drimmer, inherited his father's rabbinical position in Skala, and during the Nazi occupation, was appointed to the “Judenrat”. In September, 1942, he was deported to the Janowska camp in Lwow where he met his death.

Skala had an abundance of synagogues: the old “shul” dating from the 16^th century was burned in 1911. The new structure begun on its ruins, was never completed. This was a massive building of hewn stone and arched windows which never reached completion and stood desolate for decades. In one corner, a small synagogue was set up where simple folk prayed. On the High Holidays – on Rosh Hashanah, before the shofar was blown and on Yom Kippur, before the “Neilah” prayer – the town's rabbis; one a Czortkower Hasid and the other a Wizhnitzer, would come, each in his turn, accompanied by the elders of the community, to the old “shul”, where they would preach to the worshippers and call out the blasts of the shofar.

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There were about ten other prayer and study houses and small synagogues: The Czortkower, Wizhnitzer, Otynyer, “Itzik's Kleisel” and “Port Arthur” – a synagogue built during the Russo–Japanese war, which looked a little like a fortress. Skala also had some misnagdim (opponents of Hasidism) but their influence was negligible; and the secular Jews, in general, tried not to publicly offend the sensibility of the religious.

As for education, all the children obviously went to “heder” or to the community “Talmud–Torah”. Gifted boys studied independently in the house of study or under the tutelage of the town's rabbis, all outstanding teachers. Children of the affluent and of “enlightened” secular Jews studied in gymnasiums, mostly at Czernowitz in Bukowina. The townspeople held these students in great esteem, as did the students themselves. A Hebrew “Tarbuth” school, founded in Skala in 1906, attracted a large student body thanks to its talented teachers, Siwak and Tennenblatt. Social and cultural activities included lectures, celebrations and parties, as well as amateur theatre performances which delighted the audiences of the day. Old–timers among Skala's former residents may still remember the successful presentation of the drama “God, Man and the Devil”.

Skala's Jews took interest in political movements, and in this area as well, there was little agreement. The community was primarily divided into Zionists and Socialists, and the differences in outlook were evident not only in heated debates but also in quarrels and animosities. On the other hand, the Jewish community was on good terms with the Gentile population, and little anti–Semitic sentiments was felt. Jews were in the majority until the late 19^th century and made up just under half the population before World War I. Skala's Jews were represented on the town council in proportion to their numbers, and the office of deputy–mayor was, for many years, reserved for a Jew. In this post, Woolf Itzik Freifelder became especially famous and was admired even among his Gentile colleagues. Even as one against many, his view would be adopted by the council and the Ukrainian members would concur by saying: “Let it be as Mr. Wolko says”, and there was no need for a vote to be taken.

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2. The First World War

At the outbreak of World War 1, panic seized the Jews of Skala who feared the onslaught of the Cossacks as the river Zbrucz was the only natural barrier between them. A few affluent Jews managed to escape to the West despite the prohibition and surveillance of the Austrian police. The front moved back and forth, and in late August, 1914, Skala fell to the Russians, however, not to military forces, but to civilian authority. Tolerable relations were established with the Russian officials, but in the summer of 1915, an edict of expulsion was issued upon all Jews living in the border area. Skala's Jews were exiled to Czortkow and were forced to march there under the guard of Cossacks who did not hold back their lashes. In Czortkow, they were herded into the courtyard of the grand Rabbi and the next day, they were transported to the town of Kopyczynce. A few days later, they were permitted to return to Skala but only a week passed and they were ordered again to vacate their houses for good and to relocate at least 8 kilometres from the border. Possessions were hidden with Christian neighbours, houses were shut and the wanderers scattered in every direction; to nearby towns and villages where they remained in miserable, impoverished conditions. To make matters worse, a cholera epidemic broke out and hundreds fell victim. A year later, when the Jews of Skala were allowed back to their homes, they found utter destruction. The Russian soldiers had removed windows and doors, floors and ceilings, anything that would serve as fuel or as reinforcement for the trenches and strongholds.

The Ukrainian townspeople finished off the looting and practically nothing was ever returned. The returning refugees, attempting to rebuild their lives, made some temporary repairs on their homes. New sources of income soon opened up: Jews from Russia, in need of all manufactured goods, were will to buy, with gold and silver, any merchandise they could obtain. The Jews of Skala bought up whatever they could, from near and far, and sold to their Russian brethren. Certain items, such as candles, cigarette paper, blades for straw–cutting and cheap ornaments were especially in demand. Likewise, lively trade went on in the other direction: From Russia came supplies of flour, sugar, salt, tobacco and matches, to the Galician populace and

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to the forces at the front. Among Skala's Jews were a few contract–suppliers, some of whom really “hit it rich” and were known as war profiteers. Toward the end of the war, the central Powers occupied large portions of the Ukraine, as far as Odessa on the Black Sea and as a result, commerce flourished even more.

It goes without saying that at such unstable times, one cannot expect too much in the way of cultural activity, especially as most of the educated youth had been conscripted into the Austrian army or had managed to settle in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

At the end of World War I, with the fall of the Hapsburg Monarchy, Galicia underwent two years of uneasy transition, and was finally annexed to the new Polish Republic. At first, a “Ukrainian Democratic Republic” was set up, which was not very friendly toward the Jews. In addition, penetrating Petlura gangs from across the border, terrorized the Jews of Skala, though their assaults were less severe than those in the Eastern Ukraine. It should be noted that on one occasion, Jewish youths in Skala fought with the Petlura gangs and forced them to retreat.

The West Ukrainian authorities did not interfere with the economic foundations and livelihood of the Jews. Trade in fuel oil brought from the wells of Drohobycz and Boryslaw began to flourish. Jews had to take on Ukrainian partners for only under Ukrainian names could licenses be obtained to purchase the fuel and to transport it to Skala by rail. Russians Jews would transfer the petroleum in barrels to the Easter Ukraine. The Jews of Skala accumulated considerable sums of money, but when the Ukrainian government fell, this currency became worthless and the new–found wealth was lost.

In 1920, the entire area was occupied by the Red army. A “Revcom” (Revolutionary Committee) was set up in Skala, and the Bolsheviks severely harmed Jewish business and livelihoods. Their rule lasted by seven weeks and when the Poles defeated the Soviets, the Zbrucz became the new border between Poland and the Soviet Union. In the early months of the Polish rule, the

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Jews suffered at the hand of the Polish forces of General Josef Haller. Rampaging soldiers harassed, molested and injured Jews, cutting their beards and side locks. Many of Skala's Jews were among the wounded. Eventually, however, the civilian administration gained control and life returned to normal.

During this period, most of the Jewish community had to struggle to survive and searched for ways, however uncertain, to eke out a meagre living. To be sure, a class of well–to–do, even wealthy, Jews did develop, but the numbers of poor were quite endless. In between was the “petite bourgeoisie” class: merchants who sold fabrics, footwear, tools, construction materials and sundries to the Christian populace. From the latter, Jews bought agricultural products: grain, beans, fodder and eggs, large amounts of which were, in turn, exported to Western Europe and overseas. On Wednesdays the weekly fair took place, attracting thousands of peasants from surrounding villages. Skala's merchants, for their part, would bring their wares to the fairs held in other towns: fabrics, clothing, leather, boots and shoes, sheepskins and fur hats. In the little town of Ulaszkowce, a large annual fair was held publicized all over East Galicia and there, Skala's merchants held prominent places. (There was even a Jewish folks saying: “As noisy as the Lashkewitz fair!”). There was no conspicuous change after the war in the activities of the Jewish artisans of Skala. Wagoners and carriage–drivers provided a vital service to the townspeople, transporting passengers to the railroad depot, to the cities of Borszczow and Czortkow, and to nearby towns. The Jewish huckstresses of the market added variety to the peculiarly Jewish panorama of the “shtetl”; their customers were almost exclusively peasant women. There were also Jewish farmers, though few in number, and two of them were quite wealthy landowners.

The free professions were scarcely represented: two doctors, three dental technicians, a few teachers and “ministers” – graduates of law schools who remained unemployed because Skala had no courthouse and who attempted to further their studies or find work in Borszczow. Religious life and services were quite adequately attended to: two rabbis (for the two opposing Hassidic sects, Czortkower and Wizhnitzer); rabbinical arbiters, ritual slaughterers, supervisors and sextons. Then there

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were “melamdim”, traditional Hebrew teachers for various grades, Talmud instructors, some of them fine scholars and outstanding pedagogues of exceptional abilities, all of whom, however, lived on meagre incomes. To complete the picture, there were the clerks who served as secretaries and bookkeepers in the export companies, in business, in communal offices, in the free loan society, in the flour mill, and so forth.

For about a decade, a Jew served as chief city clerk, an occurrence rare in Poland between the two World Wars. Finally, not included in the above list, is a large number of Jews whose precise occupations cannot be described: the so–called “Luft menschen” – counsellors, mediators, petition–writers to government offices, matchmakers, etc. At the bottom of this socio–economic ladder were the poor, day or hour labourers, servants, water–drawers and, of course, beggars. The business of smuggling, fully described earlier, continued a few years after World War I and provided significant income and profits for quite a number of merchants, middlemen, money–changers, packers, carters and smugglers. As the years passed, however, the Soviet Union sealed the border hermetically shut, while the Poles, themselves, began to impose severe punishments on offenders, denying them access to the border region, even after serving their prison sentences.

Quite a large percentage of Jewish families having no means of support would certainly have approached starvation if not for the two types of assistance offered them: first, the interest–free loans from the funds of the “Geimut Hasadim” (Free loan society) established by local businessmen, most of whom were Zionists. This loan society was founded through the generous contributions of former residents who had emigrated to the United States, Skala's “landsmanschaft”, and through contributions from foundations in other countries. Second, parcels of clothing and money were sent to families by their relatives abroad. The anti–Jewish policies of the Polish government and the manifestations of anti–Semitism by the populace, starting during the infamous Grabski–period, and continuing up to the crisis of the Thirties, brought, as they did elsewhere, economic decline to Jewish Skala. As a result, bankruptcies among Jewish merchants, particularly in the fabric and clothing trades;

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became frequent. The situation continued to worsen late in the Thirties so that when the Soviets invaded and occupied Skala for almost two years, the already shaky economic structure of Jewish Skala collapsed entirely.

As for educational institutions in Jewish Skala, the children received their primary education at the “Pulaski” public school, the only one in town. After studying there for seven years, they turned to a life of work helping their parents, and only a few would continue their studies in secondary schools out of town. In 1933, a private high school with a two–year course was founded where children of Jews, Poles and Ukrainians prepared for the graduating exams in Borszczow or Czortkow, but this school was closed at the outbreak of the war. However, in addition to attending morning classes in the Polish school, children of traditional families studied as well in “heder”, while those of the more “enlightened” class studied at the Hebrew “Tarbut” School, which housed both kindergarten and secondary classes. This school enjoyed a fine reputation and was cared for by community and Zionist leaders who assured it a sufficient budget. It was blessed with good teachers: Roiz, Lederman, Ochshorn, Tepper and others. Hayim Roiz, an excellent educator, was admired by hundreds of students and held in great esteem by the entire community.

The kindergarten and Hebrew teachers organized cultural events, literary evenings, theatre performances, all conducted in pure Hebrew. No wonder, therefore, that Hebrew was spoken well in Skala's streets and homes. The school was housed in a fine, three–story building called “Bet Am” (people's house) which was erected in 1921 on a side–street populated by simple folk. One who gave of his energy and time more than any other person to the establishment of the Tarbut School was Moshe Weidberg, who later perished in the Holocaust. Besides the classrooms, this building housed, in its basement, a meeting place for the Hashomer Hatzair Youth; a library and reading room on the first floor and a large public auditorium on the second floor.

Just before its destruction, the Bet Am library contained 5,000 books; about 2,000 in Yiddish, 2,000 in Polish, 800 in Hebrew and 300 in German. The founder of the library was Moshe Wiesental (Moshe Brachas, now in the United States), who organized and managed it the first few years of its

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existence. In the effort of enlarging and expanding the library, he was joined by Shlomo Schwarzbach and Feivel Gottesfeld, who offered dedicated assistance.

Graduates of the night–school course in Hebrew, with the teacher Shraga Ochshorn. (1932)

Group activities were held by voluntary, apolitical organizations, by political parties and youth movements. Complex human relationships caused divisions into opposing groups, though not necessarily due to political, religious or class differences. One fierce feud, between Yaeger, the executive secretary of the municipal council, and Moshe Feuerstein, a member of the municipal council and for a time the chairman of the Jewish Community Council, was widely publicized. Each side marshalled many supporters and even the heads of the Polish community became involved in the controversy. Such disputes were never known for the polite manner in which they were conducted and, at times, bitter animosities raged.

Due to the initiative and dedication shown by the leaders of the local Zionist movement, a free loan society and a people's bank were set up, the principal capital for which was obtained

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from the joint Distribution Committee in the United States. (Of these leaders, Israel Freifelder and Motie Weidberg perished in the Holocaust and Ben–Zion Fiederer emigrated to Israel before the war and died there after a long life). These institutions brought immense benefits, often actual rescue, to hundreds in distress. In like–fashion, assistance was offered to the sick by the “Yad Charutzim” society in the form of modest financial support and in attendance at bedside. For many years, the head of this society was Shemayah Lachman, and after his death in 1930, he was replaced by Chaim Meiselman, who later perished in the Holocaust.

The outstanding figure in the “Chevra Kadishah” (society for the burial of the dead) was Shlomo–Peretz, the one–eyed sexton of the Czortkower house of prayer. He was unique and colourful, endowed with a phenomenal memory. He remembered the dates of hundreds of memorial days and knew the location and history of all the tombstones on the ancient, four–hundred–year– old cemetery.

Politically, the community of Skala was divided primarily into Zionists and anti–Zionists. The religious Zionists demonstrated their presence only during elections to the Zionist Congresses by voting for the “Mizrachi” list. They had neither a local organization nor a youth movement. The “secular” Zionists, however, could boast of their adult chapters and, more significantly, of the activities of their youth groups: Hashomer Hatzair, Gordonia, Buslia, Hanoar Hatzioni and Betar. Relations among members of the various youth groups were generally friendly, though occasionally, heated debates erupted on the “promenade” about events in the Zionist movement and in Palestine, particularly during the shekel–campaign and elections to the Zionist Congresses. Relations became strained after the split in the Zionist movement and the secession of the Revisionists who had quite an active chapter in Skala.

Youth groups vied to earn honours in their efforts on behalf of the Jewish National Fund and to obtain “certificates” (British emigration permits to enter Palestine) for members who completed their “hachshara” – extensive agricultural training. The “Aliyah” of each “chalutz” (pioneer) became a festive event for

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the whole town. Members of all Zionist groups would accompany him to the rail depot in a stirring, farewell procession. Scores of “chalutzim” emigrated to the Land of Israel between the two World Wars, including members of the middle class. At the start of the third “Aliyah”, Russian emigrants, among them Mordechai Fingerman and Yitzhak Buchalter (Bahat) passed through Skala, stirring up some Zionist fervour among the residents and receiving some assistance for their journey. Some of Skala's Zionists emigrated to the land of Israel with the fourth “Aliyah”, particularly in the thirties. Together with the survivors of the Holocaust, who reached the land of Israel after the war, over 80 people from Skala now live in Israel.

A sizeable number of the working–class and poor residents of Jewish Skala belonged to an anti–Zionist organization known as “Braterstwo” (Brotherhood). The Polish police suspected members of this organization of Communist leanings; there were actually cases of arrests and trials, and some suspects escaped across the border to the Soviet Union.

Religious section of Book Fair exhibition in Skala Community centre. (1933)

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In the early 1920's, an amateur theatre troupe was founded in Skala which remained active until the beginning of World War II, displaying talents which earned the praise of visiting critics. Even some of the local Polish and Ukrainian “intelligentsia” used to attend the performances of this Jewish amateur theatre. The director, Sholem Muhlmut, himself a talented actor, was joined by Lieba Adelman, Motel Haussner, Welvel Wasserman and Moshe Bilgorei, all of whom perished in the Nazi Holocaust, as well as Berish Weidberg who died in New York several years ago and Arye Schwartzbach, Esther Weidberg, Moshe Wiesenthal and Leib Schwartzbach who now reside in Israel and in the United States.

At dawn on September 17, 1939, the Red Army crossed the Zbrucz and Skala, along with all of the East Galicia, remained under Soviet rule until the end of June, 1941. Actually, all the Jews of Skala welcomed the Red Army, with sighs of relief and even genuine excitement, so great was their fear of Nazi occupation which had already approached Lvov (Lemberg). A few weeks later, things had changed: merchants had lost all sources of income; their stores emptied and closed. Practically all the breadwinners became state employees working in all sectors of the economy including hard, physical labour in agriculture, stone quarries and at road and rail construction. Some families who became completely destitute left in search of means of survival for other cities, especially Lvov. They were followed by Zionist activists who feared communist persecution. On December 25, 1939, without any warning, 17 Jewish families, most of them not really affluent, were served edicts of “nationalization”. Denied time to pack any possessions or clothing, they were driven from their homes and all their property was confiscated. Yet, not a single Pole or Ukrainian was similarly treated, though some of them were more well–to–do than those “nationalized” Jewish families. A few Jews were arrested, true to Soviet custom, in the dead of night and, with no trial whatsoever, disappeared without a trace. In April, 1940, the families of these prisoners were themselves arrested, while

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the relatives of the “nationalized” families were sent off to Siberia.

One event, as strange as it was tragic, will always be remembered by Skala's residents. Late in 1939, a Jew by the name of Motel Fisch was arrested by the Soviet police and disappeared for a long while. Though his wife and child were picked up and deported to Siberia, the man himself was freed a few months later when even the Bolsheviks were convinced of his innocence. Fisch began to seek the release of his wife and son, but his efforts, which he kept up until June 1941, were in vain. The war began, he perished in the Holocaust and his wife and son returned from Siberia and emigrated to Israel.

Sad is the summary of the 21 months of Soviet rule in Skala. The Jews were impoverished, their property gone and their sparse livelihood shaky. All of the original Jewish cultural institutions and their achievements came to naught. Zionist activists were persecuted and many, though not in actual danger of their lives, lived in constant fear. This then was the situation before Jewish life in Skala went up in flames with the Nazi onslaught on the Soviet Union, June 22, 1941.

1. Balinski–Lipinski: Polska Starozytna, Tom III, ”Skala”, Str. 642–643.
2. Slownik Geograficzny: Skala nad Zbruczem, Str. 171–173.
3. Encyklopedia Powszechna, Tom XXII, Warszawa, 1866.
4. Materialy do kwestji Zydowskiej w Galicji, opracowal Stanislaw Gruinski, Lwow, 1910.
5. Bohdan Wasiutynski: Ludnosc Zydowska w Polsce w Wiekach XIX I XX, Warszawa, 1930

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