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(From left to right): Yaakov Leibusz Rapaport and Simcha Sznycer
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[Page 97]
By Yitzhak Birnbaum (Haifa)
Edited by Dr. Rafael Manory and Erica S. Goldman-Brodie
In 1911, I took up residence in Sokal as the son-in-law of R' Israel Bard ז”ל. I came from the shtetl of Anistriszcz near Buczacz where the spirit of Zionism in general, and of ‘Mizrahi’ in particular, needed to be uplifted for some time, and as understood, it hit like waves in its character, and I was taken by ‘Mizrahi’ in particular in all the aspects of my soul. Accordingly, the place was very cramped for me, when I suddenly found myself in an atmosphere laden with hostile fanaticism so wide-spread against anyone that had even so much as a pinch of a breeze of Zionism wafting off of him. And even in the Czortkow–Husiatyn ‘Kloyz,’ in which a place had been set aside for me to pray amidst the family of my father-in-law ז”ל whose ADMo”Rs זצ”ל were already known to be sympathetic to this national movement, I felt that in order for me not to be an embarrassment and not defile the honor of my father-in-law ז”ל, I had to take care to watch what I said and in what tongue, and to be wary of all incorrect movements that could, God forbid, reveal ‘me’ among the many. To accomplish this, I had to suppress the spirit within me, and let it reside there. However, not much time went by and the spirits within me burst out and began to pressure me to get out. My first step was to subscribe to the newspaper, the Lemberg Tageblatt, and out of a conviction that I first needed to spread some of my spirits to my two brothers-in-law (sons of my father-in-law) David and Yehoshua הי”ד, whom I knew to have many friends among the youth, so I pulled them to read the previously mentioned newspaper. In secret, I gave them various explanations that biased them rather quickly, and they began to recruit souls for the ‘movement’, and to secretly bring them into the ‘Pardes’ and those same souls that came to life, began to follow me about, and to run into me at all hours, to beseech me, so as to take pleasure in what I had to say…
However, as it is written, ‘No one says anything, and there are no words – without those who listen to their voices,’ and this thing caused me to sprout wings speedily, and I became something to talk about by many, and even the elder Hasidim in our Kloyz, and this filled them with anger, and caused them to speak badly of me, saying: that, God forbid, I am poisoning their children, and in front of my father-in-law ז”ל and of his firstborn son, my brother-in-law of precious spirit and gentle in soul, Abraham (who was called Avrom'chi, ז”ל), and this is the place where I need to recall my brother-in-law for the good ז”ל; he was indeed without ‘politics’ a committed Hasid to his Rebbe from Husiatyn and adhered to his deeds, and seeing as how I have already mentioned above, all the people of his ‘courtyard’ looked favorably at the Zionist movement in general, and on ‘Mizrahi’ in particular.
He didn't pay attention to what they said, and he even calmed his father gently. And in particular after these things, the issues were conducted with greater alertness, me for myself, and my brothers-in-law ז”ל for themselves, such that the first ‘buds’ already began to bloom and come out.
It is hard to know how things might have developed if the First World War had not broken out first.
[Page 98]
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(From left to right): Yaakov Leibusz Rapaport and Simcha Sznycer |
However, immediately with the end of the War, a new wind began to blow through the city, the ‘fanatics’ cooled off a bit, and the youth matured, ‘the kids grew into fully-grown goats’ I was afraid of ‘the eyes of shame,’ the shadow of disapproval disappeared from their faces, and the work was carried out completely in the open. This success lit up the faces, and tens of comrades, male and female, from the youth to mature, bachelor men from all parts came to swell the ranks of our movement in a short period of time, to the point where we found ourselves worthy to formally organize ourselves and to open a meeting place called ‘Young Mizrahi.’ The opening was done with a great deal of panoply and dignity. One could see this in song and melody, directed by the honorable Rabbi Dr. Federbush who responded to our invitation, and honored us with a warm speech full of heart. Incidentally, when the Honorable Rabbi Federbush noticed that among our members that had already grown out of their youth footwear, he asked him smiling, until what age does a man still belong to being a boy… to his satisfaction, I replied that according to the sentence (Genesis 19) that this city had moved here… from the sorrow of the ADMo”R Rashi it turned out that there were 51 in the 51st year, and the issue raised a wave and captivated even people that had previously had the temerity to reveal themselves, and this was proven in the plot when in the elections to the community council drew near, the ‘Mizrahi’ candidates received many more [votes] from the numbers of our membership signed up with us. In time, our flag rose until, especially in our Kloyz, for a very good reason: When the Rabbi Prof. Fogelman (now the Rabbi in Motzkin) visited Sokal staying with his father ז”ל, who was also a Hasid of Husiatyn. It was pleasant for us to be honored by his speeches full of substance and taste.
[Page 99]
That appearance of his caused us to depend on the saying.[1] ועמל אריג יניעב ארציב
Practically from day-to-day, we derived more from the sympathy/support of the congregation to satisfy our desire. Yet, our young members were satisfied with the premises in which they entered in the evenings and Sabbath and Festivals, and spent their time in discussions of Zion, etc. But at the same time, those of us who were older, had the feeling that together with this it was prior to the completion of the task that fell upon us because without a foundation – they are the neophytes without experience – the entire structure ‘was still a slender thread’ because if there are no girls there is no vigor of life, and without roots there are no trees. And so, we sat on the porch and tried to garner advice on how to fill this gap on the premises of my brother-in-law David Bard ז”ל, who during this time became a ‘man,’ and we decided to establish a ‘Yavneh’ School of honor and beauty. Largely I remember this ‘man’ for the good, because he gave much of his time and money to complete the school and put it on a firm foundation. And this too, cast the light of success upon us, it developed and opened quickly. The students came from all four corners of the city, and the leadership earned respect and much recognition from all the parents for the beautiful teaching and secular education that their children received from us, amidst a feeling of intense affection.
This is the history of ‘Mizrahi’ from the day it was founded until I made aliyah in the year 1935, and all its deeds and undertakings from then up to the Holocaust, they are interred with our dear friends הי”ד, who were murdered by the dogs of Hitler ימ”ש.
N.B.
So that nothing leaves my hands that is not edited, and that I will not, God forbid, in the many of my friends of the movement that were active and committed to it heart and soul, I have to remember for the good, Meir Tafrinsky, Zvi Zeltzer הי”ד and others (to my regret I do not remember their names) and separated for long life, Mr. Chamaides who was a desired Rabbi and teacher in our school, and Mrs. Jonah Rosenfeld who often gave us pleasure with her songs – both are found in the Land.
Translator's footnote:
By Israel Shapiro (Montreal – Canada)
Edited by Dr. Rafael Manory and Erica S. Goldman-Brodie
The local Revisionist organization donated a large amount to the Zionist movement in Sokal, which had actively taken part in all of the Zionist activities and transformed itself into a highly visible part in the Zionist society of the city.
In the last years before the Second World War, the head of the Zionist Revisionists in Sokal was the young lawyer Dr. Gruder, whose heart-and-soul commitment for the realization of the Revisionist dreams did much to raise the popularity of this movement in Sokal.
[Page 100]
In the year 1930, the skillful and capable young Revisionist, Ber'l Redlich, together with a group of activists, founded the youth organization ‘Brit Trumpeldor’ (called by its acronym BETAR), which in time developed a great influence on the young Zionist generation in Sokal. During most of his years, Ber'l Redlich was leader of the local BETAR. Thanks to his oratorical and organizational skills, the position of the Revisionist movement in Sokal grew. His public speeches were very popular, and along with this, they got a lot of help in propaganda work from his friend Hersch Goldberg.
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(Sitting from the right): Prof. Zender and her brother Shmuel, Prof. Gleicher and Hannah Horowitz |
In the later years, after Redlich, Sholom Brak, who was Kreutzer's son-in-law, undertook the leadership of BETAR . What he garnered was the broadening of its influence among the Jewish intelligentsia and assimilated youth, which generally had no attachment to any particular Jewish-National movement.
[Page 101]
It was from this coterie that among other, there emerged such committed revisionist activists as the Engineer Schwartz, and Dr. Gruder.
With boundless commitment for the Revisionist ideal and with a deep belief in their great leader [Ze'ev] Jabotinsky it was Mordechai Mendelson who excelled, who with genuine loyalty and willingness to sacrifice himself, fought for the ideal of the Revisionist movement, to achieve a full realization of the end goal of Zionism. It is a shame that these energetic fighters for the Revisionist ideal were killed by the Nazi murderers… they did not have the privilege to live long enough to see the establishment of a free nation in the Land of Israel. Their tragic murder nullified their dream of making aliyah to the Land of Israel, to assimilate themselves into the camp of the builders of the new Jewish State of Israel.
By A. Kh.
Edited by Dr. Rafael Manory and Erica S. Goldman-Brodie
1. Poalei-Tzion
The foundation of the Poalei-Tzion movement in Sokal was laid after the year 1905 when, among the refugees returning from Russia there was a Yitzhak Bloch, and active Poalei-Zionist, who in his new residence began to popularize the solutions of Poalei-Zion among the Jewish working class in the City.
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Whenever there was organizational work on this matter, it was not possible yet to say anything about it, and all of the activity was limited to solution discussions concerning questions that contained a general Jewish and Zionist character. Initially, only young people belonged to the first circle of Poalei-Tzion, which was quite distant from knowledge acquired in classes. Indeed, they did not have a great influence on the Jewish Street in Sokal and on the smaller number of older people of Poalei-Tzion.
[Page 102]
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It was only after the Balfour Declaration, when Zionism sunk deeper roots in Sokal, and penetrated the ranks of the Jewish society there, and along with this a new life was awakened in an active
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[Page 103]
Poalei-Zion group, which counted as members among them: Hersh Weitz (who died in New York in 1966), Ber Levin, F. Gingold, Sh. Burstein and Leimzider (a son of Aharon Limier). Apart from this work also for the benefit of K.K.L., this Poalei-Tzion Group carried on an intensive cultural activity among its adherents. These adherents emigrated to America, and every activity of the diminished Poalei-Tzion came to a complete halt.
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[Page 104]
2. Hitakhdut
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Standing (right to left): Mendl Lieber, Moshe Sheff, Benno Bergloz |
A radical process took place in the Zionist movement in Sokal after the First World War, which in its first ranks, it accepted youth groups seeking to be Halutzim, and who were connected to the general Zionist organization. The influence of the Land of Israel Labor-Zionism grew stronger from day to day, which, a little at a time, penetrated the ranks of the Halutzim.
At the same time, the Zionist labor party ‘Hitakhdut’ established itself in Eastern Galicia in 1921, especially to create a Jewish Labor Society in the Land of Israel on the foundation of a free exploitive agriculture, supported by Jewish culture.
The leaders of the new party developed a broad multi-faceted propaganda campaign, and since a whole array of local places existed in the ranks of the general-Zionist organization that had been radicalized Tze'irei Zion groups, the momentum of the Hitakhdut initiative fell on sympathetic ears.
This is what also happened in Sokal, where the radicalization process had strengthened itself among Zionist youth. There were several Zionist organizations already active there such as ‘Gordonia’ and HaShomer HaTzair which had significantly drawn closer to Zionist Socialism.
[Page 105]
And when Dr. Zvi Heller, one of the ‘Hitakhdut’ leaders in Lemberg came to Sokal in 1922, to co-opt the Zionist youth of Sokal for the Hitakhdut-program, he did not have a hard time of it. From the older circles of ‘Gordonia’ and ‘HaShomer HaTzair,’ a branch of the Hitakhdut party was established with his help, with its own society ‘HaTekhiya,’ in which all the elements of the radical Zionist movement in the city, centered themselves.
Under the direction of such committed activists as Dr. Janowczinsky, Joseph Fyvel and Dov Kiehl the Histadrut organization in Sokal developed an activity that made an impact in all aspects of life –not only from pure Zionist ideology – but also from Jewish cultural and social-community work.
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Sitting from the right: Hersh Klinger, Shimon Byk, V. Eimeryl |
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