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News of the ‘HaShomer Ha'Tzair’ movement reached our city at the height of the First World War, when Jewish sons began to return from Vienna, after the city had been rid of the Russian Army.

Many, if not all, of the founding members of the Sokal branch were youth who studied, and pupils of the local gymnasium. The ‘HaShomer’ branch was founded in 1917, which later on changed its name, as did all other branches, to ‘HaShomer Ha'Tzair.’ The Sokal branch possessed a profound visionary outlook, and the most important of its leadership held themselves as erect Jewish people, pure and doers of good deeds, of honest hearts and all the other attributes of a forward-looking movement.

It was a local and global movement, shortly after its founding, and concerns of the first ideologies, that were difficult to manage, engendered weakness and disappointment, more than the appearance of a movement of pioneering fulfilment. However such changes skipped over the Sokal branch, which for a continuing period, with a good reputation, guarded its fundamental idealistic character. During these years, the Sokal members of ‘HaShomer’ did not know how to find a way to reach the masses of Jewish youth in the city, and because of its leanings towards Socialism, the branch remained almost exclusively a small group of the gymnasium students.

A fundamental change from this position began only in the years 1927-1928. The movement began to grow from a small group of about 30 ‘students’ and changed into a large youth group, vibrant with life, that ran from 120 to 150 young people, filled and informed with all the life of a national and global movement. In this period, until the outbreak of the Second World War, our branch was one of the largest in Galicia, not only with regard to the large size compared to the population of our city, but also in decided and committed members.

The educational objective in the Sokal branch, as in all parts of the movement, was to motivate youth to personally fulfill their role as Halutzim in the Land of Israel and to develop characteristics both spiritual and physical in order to make progress to reach this goal. This forward-looking education, which over the years saw a diminution in the ranks of the movement to The Land, in our branch saw a special emphasis and when the Galician movement ‘Khazara LaTzofiyut’ we were a wondrous example in this regard. As throughout the movement, and also in Sokal, there were many struggling to devise a synthesis between a Zionist-Socialist objective and an outlook on the world and education; However, we knew how to find a melding of the two, and consequently, our branch was spared the ideological upheavals that impacted large segments of the movement during the thirties, as evidenced by the number who left leaning to the left, exodus of the branch was smaller than usual.

With its growth and increasing strength, our branch was transformed into one of the more important enablers among the local Jewry; its work was instilled in many ranks that were both, internal and external.

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The ‘HaShomer Ha'Tzair’ branch in Sokal, 1930

The essence of the effort was based on the following principles; 8-15 boys or girls; the heads of these groups generally would receive training aligned with the settlements of the leadership in The Land. An intimate atmosphere ruled inside such groups, one of camaraderie oriented among the students and the leader of the group, and the students themselves. The work itself was divided in accordance with an order, that were first put together by the Senior Leadership in Lvov; But these outlines served only to show the general way and left possibilities of fulfillment mostly in the hands of the teachers. The general line of our endeavors was to achieve an appropriate melding of the tone among all of the essential elements of the education of a ‘HaShomer:’ Pioneering Zionism, and an outward-looking Socialism. Among the Kfirim emphasis was given to the national and personal moment. Among the Tzofim, the work was based, in addition to these, on the fundamental indoctrination of Socialism, and the knowledge base for the foundation of socialism and economics. A special place was reserved in the movement for actual work in the Land of Israel, the history of Zionism, settlement, taking up residence, and knowledge of The Land, etc. This forward-looking education became real and opened the experience of an integral part of the education of those in this age group.

In the cohort of the older members, work was aimed specifically to prepare our comrades to realize their goal as Halutzim, to a life of preparation and the kibbutz. At this age, it was difficult to obtain a set educational integration program, since part of the cohort of the Tzofim was busy over their heads with the direction of the branch and educational work with the younger cohorts because a number of the members were already in this preparation process outside the city.

These groups would come together usually 3 times a week for regular activities (‘discussions’) in the hall of the branch (‘its auditorium’) as we called it in shorthand. However at frequent intervals we would meet under the cover of the skies, in one of the romantic spots in the vicinity of the city (Dolinka, Blunya, or the Wolkowa Forest).

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The group and the division, and even the entire branch were a framework of the special activities such as legal texts, tours, to see important scenes, fund-raising, etc. And in addition to these training sessions, an important role was what we called ‘Havai’ not a subject in itself, but singing on command, dances in the hall, or in one of the places under the skies. But there were events for which it was not possible to rent a hall, because the entire process was conducted out of doors, when the place of the hall was pre-empted by one of the orchards of trees of the parents of the Shomrim.

A group of Bogrim from ‘HaShomer Ha'Tzair’ in 1930 Second row, first on the right is Dov (Bubi) Levy

With the growth and broadening of the branch reaching the ranks of the plain people, there was a risk of the dropout of young people from the schools from the movement, as was the example in many other cities in the expanse of Galicia. In Sokal we obtained the means to avoid this diversion, though in the years before the Second World War, there were groups among the youth movements, especially ‘HaShomer Ha'Tzair’ who were constrained by the risk of being taken out of the regular public high school. There was a double motive to guard this studying element: not to abandon this element to the influence of the streets, and to guard the higher cultural standing of the branch. At the time that it truly blossomed, the branch was made up of approximately 80% of youth who were not attending public schools (gymnasium, a teachers' seminary); in order to raise the level of enlightenment of this segment of youth, in the branch, apart from the regular education and indoctrination, a special initiative to impart fundamental enlightenment principles was undertaken for the cohort of the Tzofim. In special groups, those who watched over them, got an extension to provide additional input on subjects considered most important, both practical and humanistic, such as history, geography, mathematics, nature, literature, etc.

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A group of Bogrim from ‘HaShomer Ha'Tzair’ in Sokal 1931, with a group of children

Many of our young people could not take advantage of this Hebrew school training for various reasons. For groups like this, we devised an approach to imparting the language by various means, beginning with studying elementary books, and ending with sections of the Tana”kh, literature, the reading of Hebrew newspapers, etc.

The summer season and the extensive vacation it ushered in, always brought with it ways of taking advantage of the discoveries that flowed from the remaining months of the year. These were the months of the extensive tours and ‘the return to the bosom of nature.’ Going out to the summer residences, that the Sokal branch would organize by itself, both within the limits of the vicinity in partnership with the branches in nearby cities like Kristianopol, Kamionka, and Żółkiew; A number of settlements were established even in partnership with neighboring Koval.

A Sabbath or Festival stroll though the Wolkowa Forest were a custom in the Sokal branch. It was in this forest, in the year 1917, that this forest became the cradle of birth for the branch. Even the youngest ‘Shomrim’ (‘Kfirim’) came and it was there that they received their Shomrim and Zionist ‘baptism by fire.’

A Summer Colony of ‘HaShomer Ha'Tzair’ in the village of Kocior-Antonivkain 1929, with the participation of Dr. Ephraim Menkes (above far left)

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Nevertheless, once or twice a year, we would arrange for the substantial event of a tour to one of the locations that were at a distance in the area. In the final years, with the renewal of education of the Tzofim and its strengthening, a trip such as this was always tied to encampments and forests such as the Horokiv Forest, Vuzlove, Hotowice, to Szaczotow, Lubcza, Okhnivka and others.

As far back as 1928 our branch was to serve as a central location for the surrounding branches. The historical event in this regard was the first independent summer camp, that was set up in the village of Horodlo. It was this settlement that created the contact and first connections with other branches in the vicinity, encompassing branches from nearby Khavel and nearby Vilna, from whom we had been disconnected until then, in short, a broadening of the family of the Shomrim including the boundaries of each and every city.

It was in this fashion that ‘the Sokal District’ was organized as inter-city of the branches of ‘HaShomer HaTzair’ whose job it was to organize admissions, mutual visits, summer camps, mutual help; to these settlements we would go out for 3-4 weeks and the number of participants was very large, especially from the cohort of the Tzofim. The move to the summer settlements was always a major undertaking, and already, for a long time before the work began, all thoughts were fixed on it. The influence of these settlements on the life of the branch was large enough, that one could divide the period of time into two ‘ways of life,’ life for us after the settlement, and the prior one that preceded the anticipation of the next one.

The summer settlements were organized in one of the surrounding villages: Horodlowica, Kocior-Antonivka, Peitcziguri, Silelis, Ramučiai. The work done in each of these settlements was very variegated, there was a study group, a physical education group, concerns about the Zionist literary foundation, and life in contact with nature. There is no question that each branch was carved by the expertise of its participants and was unforgettable, from the creation of the world and beyond, and the difficulties of day-to-day-life in the darkened little villages for the entire year.

In the kitchen of the Kocior-Antonivka Summer Colony, 1929

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‘HaShomer HaTza'ir’ in Sokal Second Row, first is Yaakov Menkes (today Dr. Yaakov Efrat, an Israeli agronomist)

The work of the branch in the midst of the community was a weighty one in the areas of organization and culture. There was much community activity especially in the relationships to the other movements and especially those with the labor movement in the Land of Israel, with them, they would bond with the ‘HeHalutz’ movement.

A large part of the work of the Shomrim was in connection with ‘Keren Kayemet’ whose purpose was to be an integral part of our internal work in education.

Like a living part of the Zionist community in the city, our branch was an active partner in every event of significance such as the celebration of ‘Lag B'Omer’, 20 Tammuz, ‘Yom Tel-Khai’ and others. A culturally-related celebration would occasionally put on appearances [sic: performances] in public, usually with their own resources, but also in partnership with forces from the outside.

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With the arrival of the Great Holocaust, that was cast upon us by the Nazi capture, all this great and beautiful creativity was destroyed. The Germans annihilated Sokal when they reached it, even before the total extermination began, these were all of the active Jewish groups among them many Shomrim. We are a small remnant who reached The Land, who survived out of the large community and we have no words in our mouths to mourn the work that we did that was most beautiful, to beautify and purify souls that looked with complete faith and the ardor of youth, to the redemption of the people, and saw their future as part of the redemption of its re-built homeland.

‘HaShomer HaTza'ir’ group in Sokal (From right): Baruch Tzimerman, Adela Brie, Joseph Kurman, Pinchas Brie, Yitzhak Eimeril, Yitzhak Hur with Abraham Flecker behind him (From left): Ranya Letzter with Esther Rad behind, Hanan Farber followed by Israel Kandel

Let us inscribe the names of Shomrim, who at different times in the history of the Sokal Branch were its workers and carried it.

From 1917-1921 The period of the first founders: Pinchas Gruber, the Weintraub brothers, ZviJanowczinski (גז”ש), Joseph Winger, Aryeh (Leon) Honig, Mordechai Eker, Aryeh (Lunk) Rosenberg, the Sink brothers, Shmuel and Zvi Fass;

From 1922-1927, The period of awakening: Mendl and Yitzhak Finkel, David Janowszczynski, Naftali Tauba-Shimoni, Moshe Eymeril, Aryeh Fass, Mordechai Lieberman;

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A group of ‘Shomrim’ on the Bug River (From right, standing): Joseph Kurman; (From left): Yaakov Menkes

The last who stood guard until the day of capture: Joseph (‘Yushu’) Kornman, Leah Levi, Israel Kandel and his brother Isaac, Lunyu Gruber, Chaya Ingberg, Runya Lawrence, Sarah Kremerman, Mendl'eh Zuckerman, Munyu Auerbach, Moshe Miller, and many others from the best of Sokal youth.

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A group of ‘Shomrim’ in Sokal, 1927 (Lying from the left): Mordechai Tauba, Yaakov Menkes (Sitting from the left): Aryeh (Lakbo) Fass, Naphtali (Tulek) Tauba-Shimoni, Mordechai Lieberman In the tree: Elazar (Luzer) Ungar

Members of Borokhov in Sokal Center seated: Bubi Levy

A ‘Borokhov’ group in Sokal (From right): Yitzhak Eimeril, Bubi Levy (From left, third:) Franz Eimeril, fifth: Margulies r

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