Pinkas Hakehillot Polin: Hrubieszow
“Hrubieszow” - Encyclopedia of Jewish
Communities in Poland, Volume VII
(Poland)
50°48' / 23°55'
Translation of “Hrubieszow” chapter from Pinkas
Hakehillot Polin
Published by Yad
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Acknowledgments
Project Coordinator
Morris Gradel
Our sincere appreciation to Yad Vashem for permission to put
this material on the JewishGen web site.
This is a translation from: Pinkas Hakehillot: Encyclopedia of Jewish
Communities, Poland, Volume VII, pages 147-152, published by Yad Vashem,
Jerusalem
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Hrubieszow (Region:
Hrubieszow, Province: Lublin)
Translated by Morris
Gradel
Population Figures
Year
TotalPopulation
Jews
1564
-
ca. 40
1765
-
709
1827
5,454
2,924
1897
9,813
5,341
1921
9,598
5,679
1931
13,359
ca. 7,000
Hrubieszow (H) is first mentioned in the middle of the 14th century as a
village in the district of Chelm. Owing to its geographical situation, on the
main road from Lithuania in the north to Ukraine in the south and to “Greater
Poland” in the west, it was a commercial centre for its agricultural environs
and a transit station for the export of goods. In 1400 Wladislaw Jagiello, King
of Poland, granted H urban status, and even built a palace there. In 1450 King
Kazimir Jagiello confirmed its status, and moreover issued a decree whereby all
the merchants and carriers transporting goods from Rychnov to “Greater Poland”
(to Poznan and other towns) as well as to Wroclaw, had to pass through H and pay
customs duties to the king. After the great fire in Chelm in 1473 the Bishop of
Chelm moved his see to H.
The era of prosperity and plenty, however, came to an end at the end of the
15th century, and the town fell prey to anarchy and crisis. In 1498-1500 H was
invaded by the Tatars, who set most of its houses - made of wood - on fire.
Between 1502 and 1526 H was also attacked four times by the Tatars.
In 1576 King Stefan Batory presented H as a gift to the nobleman Andrzej
Tanszynski. The new owner succeeded in developing the town into a regional
centre for crafts. At that time H included bakers, weavers, tailors,
blacksmiths, gunsmiths, locksmiths, tinsmiths, shoemakers, furriers, gold and
silversmiths, and butchers.
In 1648 H was attacked by the bands of Chmielnicki, who destroyed its houses
and the palace; and in the 18th century it suffered badly during the War of the
Confederations. After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 H came under
Austrian rule, in 1807 it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and
in 1815 - until the First World War - it formed part of Congress Poland. In the
second half of the 19th century several industrial plants were established in H.
At the outbreak of the First World War, in the summer of 1914, fierce battles
raged around H, and many houses were destroyed in the bombardments. In 1915 the
town was occupied by the Austrians and the Germans, who remained there for three
years. The invaders imposed heavy taxes on the inhabitants and confiscated their
goods, and poverty and hunger reigned in the town. Many people were rendered
destitute.Young people were rounded up forcibly to lay a railway track. In
1915-16 a cholera and typhus epidemic broke out and claimed many victims.
H. was occupied by the Germans on September 14th, 1939. Three days later they
withdrew and were replaced by a unit of the Polish army. The Polish troops
opened fire on a unit of the Red Army that was the stationed on the outskirts of
the town. There were casualties on both sides in the ensuing battle. On
September 23rd the Russians occupied the town - but 11 days later were obliged
to evacuate it in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the Germans
returned and took possession.
The Jews until the End of the First World WarTown documents from the
first half of the 15th century first mention the presence of Jews in H, most of
them merchants. In 1445 Eliyahu journeyed through Lutsk in Volhynia to Kiev on
business - import of furs and horses. Another Jew from H, Itzhak, is recorded as
a tax-collector in the town, and in 1447 he also obtained the tax concession for
Sambor and leased the salt mines in Jasienica. In a document from 1456 the names
of Michael and his son Yehuda appear. Armed with a royal warrant from King
Kazimir Jagiello, they were permitted to travel throughout the kingdom without
paying customs duties on their goods. In the second half of the 15th century we
find the names of other excise collectors - Joszko and his brothers, Joszko's
son Jakow, and S. Szachnowicz. In 1564 Jews took over the collection of taxes
from the local butchers.
During this period the Jews of H played an important part in the import and
export of goods, and their activity extended as far as Wallachia, Turkey, the
Crimea, and Kiev. Their routes were infested with robbers and other dangers. R.
Meir Be”r Gdalja of Lublin (1558-1616), author of the responsa “Mavhir Einei
Chachamim” (for this and other terms, see Notes at the end of this
translation), refers to witnesses who talked of the murder of Moshe from H
by robbers on his way to Constanza and Wallachia.
At the end of 1578 King Stefan Batory granted the Jews of H a general bill of
rights, including permission to build a synagogue and dwellings for the Rabbi
and the Cantor, and exemption from urban taxes of all the community's religious
articles. As with the Christian townsmen, the Jews were allowed to engage in
trade and crafts, build houses, open shops, establish breweries, and sell food
and drink of all kinds. In return, they were obliged to pay annual taxes to the
palace - 15 “stones” of milk for the production of candles, for the right of
ritual slaughtering, and possibly other taxes also.
This bill of rights proved an incentive to the rapid development of the
community, but the town and the community went through periods of boom and
slump. The worst experiences of the Jews were in the year of decrees (1648) when
Chmielnicki's bands brutally slaughtered them - as described in the book of
R. Szmul Feibush Be”r Natan Feitel of Vienna “Tit Hayavon”. A mere
handful of Jews managed to survive by escaping to Lublin. Shortly after,
however, the community recovered from this calamity, and even experienced a
period of renewed prosperity.
The burden of taxes and other payments borne by the Jews of H was extremely
heavy. In addition to the poll tax, there was also a tax on plots of ground,
impositions to help repay the country's war debts, as well as indirect taxes
such as customs duties, bridge tolls, market fees, yearly gifts to the local
clergy and to the Starusta (the king's representative in the town) - all these
besides taxes to the community to finance its expenses. In order to meet the
debts accrued in the decree year and the war with the Swedes and the Russians,
the community had to borrow large sums of money from the church. The agreement
signed by the community with the local priest in 1678 laid down that it had to
pay, in addition to the various taxes, also duty on rare products such as pepper
and spices. In 1705 the community was summoned for not redeeming its debt, but
five years later, in 1710, the matter was settled. The leaders of the community
pledged, in the name of all the Jews of H, to pay the debt of 4,000 guilden -
together with interest, a sum of 6,930 guilden.
In 1736 a great fire broke out in H and destroyed the synagogue, the ritual
bathhouse and 27 Jewish houses.
The economic prosperity enjoyed by H in the second half of the 18th century
contributed to the development of the community. The Jews had a considerable
share in trade in grain and agricultural produce from Rychnov via the rivers Bug
and Wisla to Gdansk (Danzig). In this period the number of shops increased, as
did warehouses and workshops run by Jews. To the tailors and hatters were added
carpenters, tinsmiths, painters and other tradesmen. In the middle of the 18th
century it was estimated that there were 135 out 375 houses in the town owned by
Jews. This number also included 15 warehouses and 13 shops built of bricks.
In the second half of the 19th century the Jews of H established a number of
industrial enterprises - two steam-driven flourmills, a brewery, a large plant
for repairing agricultural machines and tools, and a printing-works. These
industries gave employment to many Jews. A good many workshops were also begun
by the Jews and the number of artisans increased - building workers, carpenters,
tinsmiths, glaziers, painters and carriers, as well as small merchants.
During the same period the Jews were also prominent in public affairs. Some
of the younger ones in H took part in the Polish revolt of 1863, among them a
pupil of the local Gymnasium (roughly High School), Ignacie Cukier, who
distinguished himself in the fighting.
The Community and Jewish Public LifeThe efforts of the Jews to revive
the community after the decrees of 1648-49 bore fruit. A few years after these
disturbances a yeshiva was opened in H, headed by R. Yitzhak Ben Yehuda Charif.
Shortly afterwards the community achieved some standing in the “Council of the
Four Lands”. The Council's session in 1676 in Jaroslaw was attended by the
leader of the community, R. Meshulem Feibush Be”r Menachem Ginzburg Ashkenazi.
At the meeting in 1713 H's delegate was R. Szmuel ben Mordechai Margules; while
in 1717 R. Tsvi Hirsz Kremnicer of H represented the whole district of Chelm -
and he also represented H at the last session of the council in1730. In the
middle of the 17th century the community numbered more than 300 Jews from H and
51 nearby villages.
The first rabbi of the community in the 17th century whose name is known to
us was R. Chaim (Chajke) Be”r Shmuel Halevi Horowitz ( a pupil of R. Yaakov,
Head of the Rabbinical Court in Lublin). In 1665 he was appointed rabbi of
Grodno, where he died in 1675. He was succeeded in H in 1667 by R. Meshulem
(mentioned above); then came R. Yakov Ben Tsvi Hirsz; R. Avraham - Avli Be”r
Beniamin Bones (great-grandson of R. Avraham of Lwow); and R. Yitzhak Charif
(see above) - mentioned in 1695.
At the beginning of the 18th century the rabbinate was occupied by R. Shmuel
(Shmolke) Margules (see preceding paragraph); then by R. Aryeh Leibush ben Meir
Kantschiner (1698-1786), author of “A'teret Zkeinim”, who in 1728 moved to
Zloczow.
In the middle of the 18th century appear the names of R. Yoel ben Dawid
Kacenelenbogien (died in 1769); R. Ze'ev Wolf; R. Moshe Yitzhak; and R. Chaim
Hochgelernter, author of “Mishnat Chachamim”, who died in a plague.
In 1818 H acquired its first Chassidic rabbi, R. Yosef ben Mordechai
Kacenelenbogien, the “Admor of Naskiz” (died in 1830). One of the leading
Chassidim in Poland, he was an energetic leader of the Jewish masses in the town
and devoted himself mainly to public service. On his initiative, a Jewish
hospital and pharmacy were established in H, and also a mental hospital. (This
hospital was among the first Jewish medical institutions in Poland run and
maintained by the Jewish community. Its first doctor was Dr. Tsvi-Hirsz
Goldszmidt).
R. Yosef Kacenelenbogien was succeeded by R. Hillel (died 1824). The next
rabbi was R. Josef Eliezer Gelernter (died 1864). The rabbi of the community in
1878 was R. Moshe Klug, author of “Halacha LeMoshe” and “ Tikun Olam” . At the
end of the 19th century H's spiritual leader was the Chassidic Admor R. Efraim
Zalman Rokach, grandson of R. Shalom of Belz; and in 1896 it was R. Izrael Isser
Jawic (died 1924).
On the initiative of R. Josef Gelernter, a building was added to the
hospital. In 1874 a new synagogue was consecrated to replace that of 1578, which
dated from the beginnings of the community. In 1905 an Old-Age Home was opened,
with ten residents.
H was a veritable Chassidic town, containing “stiebelech” (prayer-houses) of
the Chassidim of Turzysk, Kock, Gur, Belz, Radzin, and the courts of other
Admorim. The town's social institutions included a Chevra Kadisha (Burial
Society), a “Chevrat Midrash” (to buy holy books and help the needy), and a
Provident Fund that gave low-interest loans to artisans and small merchants.
The end of the 18th century witnessed the appearance of the Haskalah
movement. Among its local proponents was the doctor, Szlomo Jakob Klemensohn
(1722-1811), who completed his studies in France and worked in Warsaw. In the
period of the “Four-Year Sejm” (1788-92) Dr. Klemensohn worked politically on
behalf of the Jews. In 1797 he published a book in French : “Comments on the
Present Position of the Polish Jews and Ways to Improve It”. He was a fierce
opponent of Chassidism, seeing it as the main obstacle to Jewish assimilation in
the Polish nation. Another intellectual, Avraham Jakob Stern (born in 1768),
learned watchmaking in H. His skill and energy came to the attention of the
priest S. Staszyc, who - although known as an enemy of Israel - gave Stern his
patronage and supported his studies. Later on, Stern invented a calculating
machine, together with his brother-in-law, Chaim Zelig Szlonimski, the first
editor of the Hebrew periodical “Hatsefira” . They were given a prize of a
thousand rubles by the Tsar. Stern translated into Polish the book of Natan Nute
Hannover, “ Yon Metsula”, on the disturbances of 1648. Although he was a
leading “maskil” , Stern pursued a religious way of life and wore traditional
Jewish dress. He died in Warsaw in 1872.
Also worthy of note is R. Simcha Aryeh Halevi Kleiner, a native of H and
author of “Mei Maleh” (Warsaw 1839) on Linguistics. Josef and Jakob Goldszmidt,
sons of the doctor Tsvi Hirsz Goldszmidt, read Law at the University of Warsaw,
where very few Jews were allowed to enter. They published the works “The Laws of
Divorce according to the Law of Moses and the Talmud” (Warsaw 1870), and
“Renowned Jews of the 19th Century” (Warsaw 1867), both books in Polish; and a
book on the Jewish cemetery in Lublin.
At the beginning of the 19th century Menachem-Mendel Finkelstein, Moshe
Cukier and Shaul Moshe Goldstein established a Hebrew printing works. Between
1816 and 1826 it produced 34 books, a few of them in Yiddish - including a
translation of “Gdolat David VeMalchut Yisrael” by Yosef HaEfrati of Troplowic;
and “Sefer Chassidim” by R. Yehuda Chassid.
At the beginning of the 20th century the majority of Jewish children still
attended the traditional cheder and Talmud-Torah of the community. Others - the
girls and a few children of wealthy and educated parents - went to the municipal
elementary school. In 1881 nine Jewish youngsters attended the Pro-Gymnasium
(High School) out of a total of 187 pupils. There were six Jewish girls in the
General School for girls, out of a total of 29 pupils. In 1907 the brothers
Shalom and Avraham Wiener opened a private boys' school, with Hebrew as the
language of instruction.
The community continued grow at the end of the 19th century and the beginning
of the 20th, although many families were poor and received help from the welfare
institutions. In the period 1890-1905 many Jews left H for the USA and other
countries in their search for a living.
On the outbreak of the First World War the Russians accused the Jews of
aiding the enemy, and many were forced to leave their homes and flee to villages
in the vicinity.
The Jews between the Two World WarsThe establishment of an independent
Poland in late1918 did not mark an end to Jewish suffering. As soon as the war
was over, units of the Polish army under General Haller entered the town. The
soldiers maltreated the Jews, attacked them in the street, shore off their
beards and sidelocks in full view of passers-by, and looted their property. In
1920, during the war between Poland and Soviet Russia, the Red Army occupied the
town for a while; and the Jews suffered at the hands of the anti-Semitic
Ukrainian troops under Balchovits and Patlora, allies of the Poles.
At the end of this war the Jews set about restoring their houses and their
businesses.The American “Joint” assisted them, and in 1921 a “Cooperative Jewish
Association” was established, which - among other things - helped acquire
building materials. The economic crisis that beset the young Polish state on the
one hand, and the government's fiscal policy on the other, hit the Jews harder
than other segments of the population. Together with the high rate of
unemployment, these factors led to the emigration of hundreds of young people
overseas - mainly to Argentina and Mexico, and even to Palestine. In 1929 the
depression returned in full force, and this time was accompanied by open
anti-Semitic economic policy and incitement by Nationalist and anti-Semitic
elements to boycott the Jews. The economic situation and social status of many
in the community deteriorated and the number in need of welfare increased
greatly.
The Jews continued to engage in trade and crafts, and a few were hired
workers in the incipient industrial plants. Incomplete data from 1937 show the
Jews owning some flourmills, a soap factory, a leather-processing plant, some
sawmills, a printing-house, and a metal foundry. Enterprises owned by Jews
employed both Jews and non-Jews. The same period saw the development of home
industries in tailoring and shoemaking. In 1937 there were 372 shops in the
town, 333 of them owned by the Jews. A few Jews were engaged in the grain trade,
in timber and in furs. The number of members of the free professions - doctors,
pharmacists, lawyers, engineers and teachers - increased greatly.
Amongst the help and welfare institutions existing at the time mention may be
made of the old Provident Fund, which was reorganised after the war, and which
gave small enterprises interest-free loans. The “Bank Amami” , founded in 1928
with the assistance of the “Joint”, gave low-interest loans. Other mutual help
organisations appeared - of artisans, clerks, factory and shop workers, etc. The
first group to organise were the tailors, and some time later 600 skilled
artisans banded together in a “Craft Association” - which included needle
workers, timber workers, leather workers and transport workers. Employees in
offices and shops were organised in the “Shop and Office Workers' Association”.
The community expanded its activities in the field of welfare and new bodies
were formed. The “Bet Lechem” Committee gave food to the most needy, and “Linat
Zedek” and “Agudat Nashim Yehudiot” aided the sick and their families and
contributed to the maintenance of the hospital, the Old-Age Home and the
Orphanage. The Hospital director, Dr. Fistel, was assisted by Doctors Szlomo
Rapaport, Moshe Perec, Grynszpan, Lifszyc, and Szajnicki (a Polish doctor). All
these institutions were supported by the community and the municipality.
In the inter-war period, as before, the traditional and religious Jewish way
of life was paramount, though the influence of the Zionist movement increased
steadily. In the years following the war the Community Council comprised
representatives from all groups - Orthodox, Zionists, and “Bund” members. In
1931 elections to the council gave four seats to the Artisans, three to the
Zionists, three to Agudat Israel”, and two to non-Party candidates. Szmuel Brand
was elected Chairman, and served for many years.
As early as 1917 the first Zionists in H organised themselves in “Agudat
Zion” , and in the course of a few years Zionist activity in the town embraced
all the movements and ideologies. In 1918 came a branch of “Tseirei Zion”, to be
followed by branches of “Poalei Zion” in 1919; the “General Zionists” and
“Hapoel Hamizrachi” in 1925; and the “Revisionists”. The year 1924 saw the
establishment of a “Hechalutz” Group - to be followed by other young Zionist
groups, such as “Hashomer Hatsair” and ” Dror “ in 1924; and “Hechalutz Hatsair”
and “Beitar” in 1927.
The members of Hechalutz formed a training group, which worked in the sawmill
of Szydlowski, a Zionist sympathiser. Hashomer Hatsair followed suit in 1934,
and these youngsters worked in the flourmill, in grain warehouses, and in
sawmills owned by Jews. In August 1932 a Congress of Beitar in the Province of
Lublin took place in H. The members of Beitar in H were given weapons in that
year and had instructors who were former officers in the Polish army, and began
military training.
Many members of these youth groups emigrated to Palestine in this period.
Among them was Yosef Almogi, later Chairman of the Zionist Organisation, an
Israeli minister, and Mayor of Haifa.
The growth of Zionist activity in H and its strength relative to other
factions may be gauged from elections to the Zionist Congresses. On the eve of
the 1927 Congress 229 “shekels” were sold, and in 1939 this number had risen to
883. In this latter congress Poalei Zion in H received 631 votes, “Al Hamishmar”
202 votes, and Mizrachi 50 votes.
In 1927 eleven Jews were elected to the Town Council of H (out of 24
members). Three were from Poalei Zion, three from the Bund, three from
Independent lists, and two were Communists. Two of the Polish Councillors, the
lawyer Tchaikowski and the teacher Swierczynski, of the Agrarian Party,
cooperated with their Jewish colleagues on the Council against the anti-Semitic
Councillors.
Non-Zionist parties in H were Agudat Israel and its Youth Movement, based
mainly on the Chassidim, and the Bund - which was established in H in 1904 - and
its Youth Section “Zukunft” (Future). The Bund, whose base was mainly among
workers in the crafts (apart from those in the Timber Union, who were mostly
members of Poalei Zion), exercised much influence in the trade organisations.
Other young people in the community belonged to the Communist Party, which was a
clandestine movement in Poland at the time. In 1923 some of its active members
were arrested, and three of them (Moshe Kornblit, Berisz Weisbrot and Yehoshua
Eisenberg) were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment..
From 1924 to 1935 the rabbinate of H was occupied by R. Josef Wertheim
(1881-1946). one of the leaders of the Mizrachi in Poland. In 1935 he returned
to his native town of Bendery in Roumania, and in 1940 emigrated to Palestine
(he died in Jerusalem). The last rabbi, from 1936, was R.Yochanan Twerski, a
scion of the Chassidic dynasty of Chernobil and son-in-law of R. Issachar Dov
Rokach of Belz. Rabbi Twerski was born in Turiysk in Volhynia in 1900. Together
with the Dayanim (Judges) Hirsz Rozenszweig and Naftali Rokach he was murdered
by the Germans in December 1939 (see below).
At this time most of the Jewish children attended the state elementary
schools. In 1919 the Zionists in H established a Hebrew elementary school called
“Hatikvah” - affiliated in 1924 to the “Tarbut” network. This school closed in
1928, and instead the General Zionists, together with Poalei Zion, set up
another Hebrew school - Tel-Chai. At the same time a Hebrew kindergarten was
opened in H. For a few years there was also a school of the Bund, called Medem,
with Yiddish as the language of instruction. The daughters of religious families
went to the “Bet-Yaakov” school of Agudat Israel. Other Jewish educational
institutions in the town were a Talmud Torah, run by the Community Council, and
the yeshiva “Bet Yosef” for boys from H and elsewhere. The few Jewish girls who
finished elementary school continued their studies at the Vocational School for
Girls, where there were also Polish girls. The practical subjects taught at this
school were sewing and weaving. Only a handful of Jewish boys attended the local
Polish Gymnasium.
The Public Library that was opened in 1917 split after a time into two parts
- a Zionist Library named after J.H. Brenner, with 7,000 books; and a Bund
Library named after Y.L.Peretz, with 3,000 books. There was also a cultural club
of Poalei Zion, with a reading room and with drama and literary groups, and a
sports club of the Bund, called “Spartacus”.
In the inter-war period there appeared from time to time issues of Yiddish
periodical - “Unser Wort” - published by Poalei Zion and edited by Meir Hofman
and Eliezer Ploszkin. In 1930 another periodical - “Hrubieszower Leben” emerged
as a supplement to the newspaper “Chelmer Stimme - published by the General
Zionists.
The wave of anti-Semitism that swept over Poland at this time did not pass H
by. In 1926 a 19-year-old Jew, Asher Segal, was stabbed to death by a
functionary in the office of the Starustra (the Government Representative). His
funeral turned into a mass demonstration against anti-Semitic incitement, with
the participation of the trade associations in the town. In the course of the
30s the power of the local anti-Semites increased. Members of the Andak Party
declared a boycott of Jewish businesses. The Jewish pupils at the local Polish
Gymnasium were harrassed by the anti-Semitic attitude of some of the teachers.
The Second World WarWhen soldiers of the Red Army withdrew from H on
October 3rd, 1939, many Jews, most of them young, left the town and made their
way to the Soviet occupation zone in eastern Poland.
On the entry of the Germans into H they began at once to round up Jews for
slave labour, and to loot their property. The hunt for slave labour was
accompanied by violence and degradation. Persecution became even more intense
when Gestapo troops came to H and police units consisting of Poles and
Ukrainians were formed.The Germans forced the Jews to make a “contribution” of
120,000 zloty, and when this sum was not forthcoming, a further fine of 80,000
zloty was added to it. The Gestapo made the rabbi Yochanan Twerski responsible
for the failure to raise the required sum. He fled to a nearby village, but the
Germans seized him there and executed him. On November 15th, 1939, the Germans
announced that Jews wishing to move to the Soviet zone in eastern Poland could
obtain a permit to do this against a payment of 10 zloty. Hundreds of Jews were
beguiled by this offer and obtained such “permits”. However, when they neared
the frontier, they were set upon by the S.S., who beat them brutally and
deprived them of all their valuables.
On December 1st, 1939, all Jewish males aged 15 to 60 were ordered to
assemble on the Wigun common (a cattle-grazing area). On the morrow, a thousand
or so Jews turned up there. S.S. troops and a company of Ukrainians surrounded
them, and under pain of death robbed them of all their money and valuables,
except for 20 zloty per person. The Germans then brought in a further 1100 Jews
from Chelm and forced the whole body to run at the double to the River Bug, the
Soviet frontier. In the course of this “death march”, which lasted four days
some 1,500 Jews from H and Chelm perished and their corpses left lying in the
fields. Many drowned in the Bug, and only a handful succeeded in crossing the
river. The few other Jews who survived were returned to H a few days later.
At the beginning of 1940 the Germans moved the Jews of H to a separate area
in the eastern part of the town. Some 6,000 Jews - both local and refugees from
surrounding townlets - were crammed into this ghetto, with several families
sharing a flat. All Jews over the age of 12 were ordered to wear a white armband
with a Shield of David on it. The Germans appointed a Judenrat of 12 members.
Its chairman was Szmuel Brand and his deputy Joel Rabinowicz. The Judenrat was
given the same tasks as in other communities - to supply the Germans with slave
labour, to collect contributions and other items of property, etc. The Judenrat
continued to see itself as an institution of the community and to the best of
its ability helped the poor and the orphans and performed other public services.
A soup kitchen was opened in the ghetto, as was a hospital with 30 beds, and
medicine was given to the sick.
In August 1940, 500 Jews from Czestochowa, destined for labour camps in the
Lublin district, arrived in H and the Judenrat cared for them as best it could.
The Germans set up four labour camps in the vicinity, and each day hundreds
of Jews, including young boys and girls, went off to pave roads, dig ditches,
build bridges, and also to work on Polish farms.
On August 13th, 1940, the Germans, aided by Polish policemen, shut 800 Jews
into a local school building, and kept them there for three days without food.
Some 600 of them were then sent to the labour camp at Belzec and set to work
digging trenches on the Soviet border. Half of them perished from hunger and
disease.
In November 1941 there arrived in H 300 Jewish deportees from Krakow, and in
March 1942 some hundreds from Mielec. The Jews of H tried to help them but the
means at their disposal were few. The Jews were forced to give the Polish
peasants their remaining possessions in return for food.
In May 1942 there were 5,690 Jews in H. In the summer of that year the
Germans informed the Judenrat that they intended to send the Jews of H to work
in the Pinsk district. On June 1st and 2nd the Germans, assisted by Polish
policemen, assembled 3,049 Jews in the market square, put them aboard goods
wagons and sent them to their deaths in Sobibor. Forty Jews, who resisted in the
market square, were shot on the spot.
A few days later, on June 7th-9th, the Germans removed hundreds of Jews from
their houses. Some knew or guessed that they were to be sent to their deaths -
and resisted. 180 such Jews were taken to the Jewish cemtery and murdered there.
The remainder, among them Jews from Grabowiec, Uchanie, Dubienka and Bialopole,
were taken to the extermination camp at Sobibor.
In command of the elimination of the Jews of H were the Gestapo Commandant
Weidermann, the Commander of the Gendarmerie Henig, and the Police Officer
Dymant.
The last of the Jews of H, some 2,500 in number, worked in German plants and
were concentrated in a small ghetto not far from the cemetery. On October 28th,
1942, this ghetto too was closed down, and most of its inmates sent to Sobibor.
Some 400 of them who showed resistance at the time of deportation were
annihilated in the cemetery area. Only 600 young Jews remained. They were lodged
in a labour camp and employed in cleaning up the ghetto and in destroying the
cemetery. In September 1943 this labour camp was also dismantled and the inmates
sent to the camp at Budzyn, near Krasnik. A handful managed to escape to the
woods.
Since 1941 a pioneer training kibbutz of the “Dror” movement had existed at
the sawmill in the nearby village of Werbkowice, with 40 members. Its “Mazkir”
(Secretary/Leader) was Moshe Rabinowicz. In August 1942 , upon the destruction
of the community of H, these youngsters decided to become partisans - but this
idea was foiled, and they were all killed by the Gestapo.
A few young Jewish natives of H fought against the Germans and their allies -
in the ranks of the Polish Army, in the Red Army, and as partisans. Among the
Jewish underground fighters from H were Jukiel Brenner, who at the time of the
German occupation lived in the district of Zaglembie, and Szlomo Brenner, a
member of the underground fighters of Vilna - both of them members of Beitar.
Leon Perec (Percki) and Izrael Weiss took part in the Warsaw Rising of 1944.
Jakob Biszkowicz was 15 when in June 1942 he was sent to Sobibor and there
joined the underground movement and took part in the revolt - under the
leadership of Captain Alexander Paczowski, a prisoner from the Red Army.
Notes (in order of appearance in the text):
Council of the Four Lands: the Jewish self-governing body in
Russia-Poland originating in the 16th century. Named for the four regions of
Major Poland, Minor Poland, Red Russia and Lithuania, it was called in Hebrew
'Va'ad Arba Artzot'.Chassidism / Has(s)idism: the Jewish revivalist
movement originating in eastern Europe in the late 16th century. It maintains
many of the characteristics of the time, such as its dress. Diverse sects of
Chassidim hail from different towns and follow different leaders or
'rebbes'.Admor: title given to a learned Chassidic rabbi; Hebrew
abbreviation of 'Our Master and Teacher'.Haskalah: European Jewish
'enlightenment', which introduced Jews to modern ways of expression and thought
from about 1750 to about 1880.Maskil: an adherent of the Haskalah.
Also used in modern Hebrew generally for an educated
person.Hatsefira: the first Hebrew journal in eastern Europe. Several
possible translations, perhaps 'The Dawn'.Cheder: (pl. cheder /
chadarim). Actually a 'room' - religious Jewish elementary school (also 'Sunday
School' in the West).Talmud Torah: religious school for the study of
the Torah; also pre-yeshiva school.Joint: 'Joint Distribution
Committee' - an American Jewish organisation founded in 1914 to provide relief
to European Jews during World War I, later expanded to service Jewish
communities worldwide.Bank Amami: “People's Bank”.Bet
Lechem: “House of Bread”.Linat Zedek: basically a hospice for the
poor and homeless, it also carried out a number of other welfare
tasks.Agudat Nashim Yehudiot: “League of Jewish
Women”.Bund: Jewish political organisation formed in Vilna in 1897 to
promote labour causes and Jewish nationalism - but opposed to
Zionism.Agudat Israel: the Orthodox Jewish (anti-Zionist) political
movement organised in 1912 in Europe, seeking to sustain the values of
traditional eastern European Jewry.Poalei Zion: 'Workers of Zion', a
marxist Jewish party founded in 1906. Its ideological 'father' was Dov Ber
Borochov.Hapoel Hamizrachi: the labour wing of 'Mizrachi' (see
below).Revisionists: followers of the radically nationalist Zionist
movement led by Ze'ev Jabotinsky.Hechalutz: 'The Pioneer', an
organisation to train youth for immigration to Israel /Palestine, primarily to a
kibbutz.Hashomer Hatsair: 'The Young Watchman', a socialist youth
movement.Dror: 'Freedom', a youth movement, now defunct, at one time
moderate, then tending to socialism.Hechalutz Hatsair: “The Young
Pioneer”. ?Beitar: right-wing youth movement, formed in 1923 and
closely connected with the Revisionists, and later with the Israeli party
'Cherut'.Shekel: a symbolic coin, indicating a membership fee to the
Zionist Organisation, with the right to vote, or delegate a vote, at its
Congresses.Al-Hamishmar: 'On Guard', left-wing movement, later name
of Israeli newspaper.Mizrachi: the Orthodox Zionist movement, founded
in Vilna in 1902.Hatikvah: 'The Hope'.Tarbut:
'Culture'.Yeshiva: a school for training younger students in
traditional Jewish sources and an academy for older students to prepare them as
rabbis.Unser Wort: “Our Word” (Yiddish).Hrubieszower
Leben: “Life in Hrubieszow” (Yiddish).Chelmer Stimme: “Voice of
Chelm” (Yiddish).Andaks: a Polish anti-Semitic organisation.
The above notes were compiled by the translator/editor. Many of the
definitions were taken from “The Timetables of Jewish History” by Judith Gribetz
with Edward L. Greenstein and Regina S. Stein (Simon and Schuster, 1993).
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