Volkovysk exhuutektuu The Trilogy Part I rgexhuutektuu lUC-rFzh Wolkovisker Yizkor Book by Dr. Moses Einhorn New York 1949 Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................... .................i Foreword ................................................... .......................xi Plan of the City of Volkovysk in 1887 ................................................xiv Plan Legend ........................................ ........................ xv My Family ................................................... By Dr. Moses Einhorn 1 The Einhorn Family ................................. .......................... 1 My Father .......................................... ......................... 3 My Mother .......................................... ........................ 3 My Sister Lisa..................................... ........................... 4 My Brother Oscar ................................... .......................... 4 My Sister Rosa ..................................... .......................... 5 My Sister Dora ..................................... .......................... 5 My Sister Paula (Pes’shka) ......................... ............................. 6 Volkovysk, My Home City ................................................... 7 The History of Volkovysk ........................... ........................... 7 The History of the Jews In Volkovysk and The Towns ................................... 11 The “Symphony” of Erev Shabbat ................................................... 14 The Food Center .................................. .......................... 15 The Butchers ....................................... ......................... 15 The Fish Market .................................... ......................... 16 The Fruit Peddlers ................................ ........................... 16 The Grinder........................................ ......................... 16 The Bakers ......................................... ........................ 17 The Dog-Catcher.................................... ......................... 17 Sweets and Dairy Products .......................... ........................... 18 The Weekly Torah Portion is Reviewed in the Heders ............................... 18 The Musicians Escort the Bride and Groom . ............................. 19 Herschel the Scribe and Chana-Chaya the Yoreshteh . .............................. 20 The Youth Promenades and Sings ..................... .......................... 21 The Volkovysk Rabbis & Dayans ................................................... 23 The First Rabbis in Volkovysk ...................... ............................ 23 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan kz , in Volkovysk ..................................... ...... 23 The Rabbis Rabbi Yitzhak Aizik Khaver kz , & Rabbi Yekhiel Ben-Aharon Heller kz ...... 24 Rabbi Abraham Shmuel [Diskin], kz ............................................. 25 Rabbi Jonathan Eliasberg, kz ................................................... 25 Rabbi Abba Yaakov Borukhov, kz ............................................... 26 Rabbi Yitzhak Kossowsky ........................... .......................... 30 Rabbi Yitzhak Rabinovich, kz .................................................. 32 i The Volkovysk Dayans ................................................... ..... 32 The Dayan Rabbi Yaakov Abraham Stein, kz ...................................... 32 The Dayan, Rabbi Menachem Joseph Volp (Reb Mendele), kz ....................... 33 The Dayan, Rabbi Tuvia Ravitzky (Reb Teveleh), kz ................................ 33 The Dayan, Rabbi Yaakov Berestovitsky, kz – The Last Dayan ....................... 33 A Jewish Education in Volkovysk ................................................... 37 The Elementary Teachers ............................ .......................... 37 The Writers ........................................ ......................... 37 The Regular Teachers (Melamdim) .................... .......................... 38 Modern Heders ...................................... ........................ 40 The Real Schul ................................................... ........... 41 Private Teachers ................................... .......................... 41 The Talmud Torah and The Yeshiva . .......................... 42 The Yiddish Volksschule ................................................... ... 45 The Hebrew School System in Volkovysk . By Yud’l Novogrudsky 47 The “ Kadima ” Volksschule ................................................... 51 The “ Yavneh ” Hebrew School .................................... .............. 51 The “ Herzteliya ” Hebrew Gymnasium ................................. ........... 52 Private Trade Schools,.... and the “ Yavneh ” Trade School ............................ 54 Zionist Movements in Volkovysk .................................................. ... 56 The Volkovysk Bund ................................................... ............ 68 The History of the Volkovysk Bund .............................................. 69 The Struggle of the Apprentices with the Tradesmen . ............................... 69 The Volkovysk Cell ( 7DJ0@8 ).................................................. 70 The Activists of the Cell .......................... ............................. 71 The Bund Prior to the Second World War ..................... .................... 73 The Social-Medical Institutions in Volkovysk .......................................... 74 Khevra Lina ................................................... ............. 74 Linat Kholim ................................................... ............. 76 The Jewish Hospital in Volkovysk . ............................ 78 The TOZ Organization in Volkovysk ......................... ................... 81 A Report from Sioma Gallin Concerning TOZ Activities in Volkovysk For the Year 1939 . 83 The Volkovysk Old Age Home ................................................... ..... 84 The Volkovysk Fire-Fighters ................................................... ...... 89 Establishment of the Fire-Fighters Organization and Command ........................ 90 Founding of the Fire-fighters Orchestra . ............................... 92 The Jewish Fire Chiefs ............................. ........................... 93 The Fire Brigade Under the Leadership of Melekh Khantov .......................... 94 The Role of the Fire-fighters Organization in the Unrest After the First World War . 96 The Fire Brigade Under Polish Rule . ............................ 97 ii The Volkovysk Maccabi ................................................... ......... 99 Establishment of Maccabi ................................................... 99 Maccabi Divisions .................................. ........................ 100 The Maccabi Activists ......................................... .............. 100 The Soccer Team .................................... ....................... 101 Other Maccabi Divisions ......................................... ............ 101 Soccer Matches ..................................... ........................ 103 Amateur Theater in Volkovysk ................................................... ... 105 The Establishment of the Amateur Theater . ............................ 105 The Amateur Theater Up to the First World War . ............................ 106 Amateur Theater Under the German Occupation During the First World War . 107 Amateur Theater after the First World War . ............................. 109 HaZamir under the Direction of Yaakov Fisher . ..................... 110 Personalities ................................................... ................. 111 Nakheh & Hinde Heller .............................. ........................ 111 Eliyahu Shykevich .................................. ........................ 112 Rabbi Abraham Zalman Kurtz ......................... ........................ 115 Sarah Perliss (Sarah the Fishmonger) . ............................. 117 Bob’cheh Kilikovsky-Cohen.......................... ......................... 118 Moshe Shapiro ...................................... ....................... 118 Reb Joseph Yerusalimsky ............................ ......................... 119 Moshe Leib Khmelnitsky ............................. ........................ 120 Zerakh Moshkovsky .................................. ....................... 121 Tuvia Fenster ...................................... ........................ 121 Reb Aaron Lifschitz ................................ ......................... 123 Reb Israel Efrat ................................... .......................... 124 Volkovysk and The Land of Israel ................................................. 126 Chaikel Shiff ...................................... ......................... 126 Sarah Tovah Shiff .................................. ......................... 128 The First Volkovysk Youth Aliyah .............................................. 129 Eliyahu Golomb .................................... ........................ 131 Zus’keh Berman ..................................... ....................... 134 Yaakov Rabinovich.................................. ........................ 134 The Kalir Family................................... ......................... 138 The Yudzhik-Yehuda’i Family ........................ ......................... 143 The Markus Family.................................. ........................ 149 The Epstein Family