Memorial Book in Memory
of the destroyed Jewish Community of
Minsk-Mazowiecki
(Poland)

52°11' / 21°34'

Translation of Sefer Minsk-Mazowiecki

Edited by Ephraim Shedletzky

Published in Jerusalem, 1977



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Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator



Our sincere appreciation to Miriam Carmi
for permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site.


This is a translation from: Sefer Minsk-Mazowiecki (Memorial Book in Memory of the destroyed Jewish Community of Minsk-Mazowiecki), ed. Ephraim Shedletzky,  Jerusalem, 1977 (H, Y 633 pages); the organization of former inhabitants of Minsk-Mazowiecki in Israel with the help of Jews from Minsk-Mazowiecki from all over the world.

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of
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Table of Contents


Introduction to the book
 
Marble plaque in the Holocaust Cellar on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem   9
Editorial (Hebrew)   11
Editorial (Yiddish)   12
Our city Lejb Rochman 13
Connections and roots Moshe Carmel 15
In the eyes of the “Sabra” Rivka Miriam 20
 
Our town and its history
 
Chroniclers relate A. Ber-Moshe 24
Chronicle of a family – History of a town Lejbl Farbman 30
The city as I remember it Moshe Meiri-Theblum 39
The beginnings of the Zionist movement in our city Ya'akov Eliav z”l 46
The Zionist activity in the twenties Pinchas Tajblum 74
Pages from the “Tarbut” school bulletin-board newspaper S. Ephraim 84
My life in Minsk up until the thirties Lejbl Grjnberg 88
Amongst religious youth in the nineteen twenties Yoshua Boneh (Budwicki) 91
The community life and the divisions amongst the rabbis Moshe Zisserman 93
My learning years Yaffe Margolis-Shnitzer 99
My youth in the communist party Moshe Bornstejn 107
“Minsker Stimme” [“The voice of Minsk”] – Details of our own weekly paper Yechiel Kirshenbaum 124
Minsk's Zionist youth paper A. Shedletzky 128
 
The Rabbi's court
 
The “Admors” from New-Minsk Rabbi Avraham-Yitzhak Bromberg z”l 132
New-Minsker people with rabbinical ancestry Menashe Unger z”l 147
Rabins' estate A. Shedletzky 157
 
The Pogrom
 
The murder of my friend Israel Zilich Avraham Shladszarsz 162
The burial S. Shwerdsharf 165
The pogrom and the trial A. Shedletzky 167
A visit with Jewish parliamentarians B. Kilinowicz 170
The laughter Yoshua Perle 177
The entreaty to heaven A. Grafman 181
My journey to Eretz Israel Yisrael Gutgold 184
 
Literary chapters
 
“Between the chestnut and the lilac” (selections) Yoshuron Keshet z”l 188
First World War years Yosef Be'er Popowski z”l 198
People and pictures Lejb Rochman 217
About Ephraim Mishmish and his son, Moshe Shedletzky Ya'akov Eliav z”l 228
Vanished like a dream… A. Shedletzky 229
A cup of coffee at Froim Baker's A. Shedletzky 259
 
Chapters from the past – Memories 
 
My inlaw's house Yitzhak Klugman 294
In memory of my family Ya'akov Kaufman 295
My father's house in Ban Street Mordechai Weisbrot 298
When parting Pola Tajblum 303
The Guberek-Kaluski family Melech Guberek 305
From Shenitzer Street to Marienki Ya'akov Kaufman 308
The “Latowitsher” Esther Rochman 314
Streets and people Yisraelke Himmelfarb 328
More than a hometown Avraham Feldman-Sadeh 334
My father, Lajbke Miriam Berman-Okshendler 338
The cotton factory in Rabins' house Esther Goldberg 341
In memory of the Talmud family Asher Enshel Goldberg 343
My grandfather Mordechai Wassermacher Ya'akov Fejgenbaum 344
My father, Avraham-Lajzer Shochet Rachel Kaufman 346
My father, the ritual slaughterer Pesach Moshe Neuman 348
My family and my youth in Minsk Fajge Gowortshik-Erlich 349
My father, Josef Trojne Eliak Trojne 352
Rabbi Shlomo Miadowski Ya'akov Kaufman 354
My good grandfather Israel-Hersz Gerszkowicz Rachel Arbisser-Margolies 355
Our family Peretz Wolff 358
The redheaded horse dealer and my friend, Josef-Ber Avraham Meretek 359
Our farm in the Rabines Street Pinchas Korman 361
My family in Minsk Rochtshe Warszawski 364
Only one remains Betzalel Yagodowicz 365
Our home in Church Street Feijge Guntrishik-Sherman 367
The Sztajnboks Meir Sztajnbok 368
I haven't seen them again Meir Gradman 370
On the Yoske Katzav's farm Chaja Wiszkop Goldstein 372
My father, the city's cantor Chava Kafka Brochstejn 373
The only one of a whole line Chaja Himmelfarb-Glickman 374
The Aronsohn family Rotshke Aronsohn-Stanislav 375
Our house opposite the “Gerer Shtibl” Meir Steinmagen z”l 377
What I remember Oskar Rak 378
With a smile Ya'akov Rak 379
 
Destruction and Holocaust
 
Our important dates   382
Leaves of fire A. Shedletzky 383
Death of the rabbi Lejb Rochman 412
The “Black Shabbat” in Minsk with the Germans Moshe David Goldman 416
The Judenrat Yitzhak Lipszinski 419
Moshe Kramaresz   430
During those days Lejb Rochman 432
8th of Elul 5702 [21 August 1942] Lejb Rochman 452
The Portion A. Shedletzky 460
The “Kopernik” (school) in flames A. Shedletzky 465
Woods, camp, hiding-place Yechiel Kirszenbaum 469
In the woods with partisans Shmuel Roszanski 475
In pursuit of the living Miriam Carmi Formajnski 487
We were seven Bajle Ostszega-Yagodowicz 492
Two sisters remain Idel Frojman-Popowski 493
Run, at least one of you can save himself Yisrael Aharon-Frojman 494
We were nine Moshe Zisserman 500
A small episode Tova Zisserman 503
My battles in Spain and the war years in Russia Moshe Bornstejn 505
In uniform during the war years Gedalia Tajblum 512
From the East Prussian front to the ship "Exodus" Yakov Rodzinski 515
Survived in Russia Zisha Goldbard 521
Childhood in days of terror Irit Romano 524
I was a 12 year old signal woman Bracha Wizotski-Lipshicz 532
Deported from Paris, fled and reached Minsk - but there are no longer any Jews there Alia Rotsztajn-Rottman 537
Survived in Germany Malka Pianka-Nir 540
With Minsker Jews to Russia Pinchas Korman 542
With Minskers from Paris in Auschwitz Lejbl Grjnberg 544
From Jawiszowitz to Buchenwald Melech Guberek 550
Our family Chavtshe Salomon-Kominkowski 552
From the Rodzki camp to the Warsaw Ghetto Malka Markowicz-Greszkowicz 554
Our heroes Lejbl Grjnberg 555
The murderers of the "Black Sabine" have gone unpunished Moshe Bornstejn 565
I have fulfilled my fathers' heritage Shaja Openheim 569
The city without Jews Yekhiel Kirshnbaum 573
 
Magnified and Glorified – List of Martyrs
 
A partial list of martyrs and innocents   585
These were their names   603
Immortalized names on a monument in Paris   605
Avinoam Miodowski – in his memory   608
 
Minskers in the Diaspora – in Israel and other countries
 
Minsk-Mazowiecki and France Lejbl Grjnberg 611
The national Landsmannschaft   616
Our journey to Minsk to see our fathers' graves Melech Guberek 617
Avraham Itshe Baranes Lejbl Grjnberg 621
Max Oszliak – the friend and mensch Yosef Margolies 623
The Minsk association in Israel Sara Obfire 625
The meeting Lejb Rochman 630
Finished but not completed – Epilogue of the editorial staff   632
 
English section  

III

 
Photographs from Minsk-Mazowiecki Memorial Book    


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