.org COMPANION | 2020 PASSOVER Visit mjhnyc.org/Passover2020 Contents to find these stories online 2 Introduction 4 Youthful Preparations for Passover Antopol, Belarus 6 A Tale About a Deserter from the Passover Fund Bender, Moldova 8 The Brisker Rebbetzin: Sara Diskin and Her Zeal for Pesach Brest, Belarus 10 The Potato Raffle Brody, Ukraine 13 Maot Chitim (Money Given to the Poor to Buy Matzah for Passover) Brichany, Moldova 18 An Unforgettable Erev Pesach Rietavas, Lithuania 21 Passover in Siemiatycze Siemiatycze, Poland 24 Drinks and Matzos for Passover Dusetos (Dusiat), Lithuania 27 Before the Deportations: A Funeral and Eulogy on Passover Eve, 1944 Královský Chlmec, Slovakia 29 The First Passover in the Camp of Deblin-Modzjitz Deblin-Modzjitz, Poland 31 Baking Matzohs at Rabbi Avraham Breitfeld’s House Bobrka, Ukraine 33 The Eve of Passover Ruzhany, Belarus 37 The Unforgettable Passover of 1943 in Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oświęcim, Poland 11 תש״פ תשע״ט| | JewishGenJewishGen PassoverPassover CompanionCompanion 2019 2020 | |5779 5780 Introduction April 2020/Nissan 5780 April 2019/Nissan 5779 Dear Friends of the Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and JewishGen, In this age of COVID-19, Jewish people throughout the world are preparing for a Passover that will be unlike any experienced during our lifetimes. This year, the ways in which we carry on family traditions of celebration face challenges that require innovation and sacrifice. As we all work to keep our Seders connected to our traditions in this non-traditional time, JewishGen and the Museum of Jewish Heritage are pleased to reissue the JewishGen Passover Companion, which contains historical and inspirational vignettes curated from JewishGen’s collection of Yizkor (Memorial) Books Introductionand other material that JewishGen volunteers and researchers have translated into English. These excerpts focus on how Passover was experienced at another time of great distress, documenting first-hand accounts April about 2019/Nissan the great effort and 5779 personal risk (Mesirat Nefesh) Jews took to observe the holiday during the Holocaust. If there is one lesson that COVID-19 has taught us, it is the value of each and every individual life. Dear JewishGen Community, The Haggadah instructs that in “every generation” generation, and our history has been marred by each individual should feel that he or she was catastrophe, trials and tribulations – yet we are personally redeemed from Egypt. The story of defined by perseverance, faith and hope in the future. the Exodus is not just about what happened to As Michel (Mikhl) Radzinski wrote to his children our ancestors. It is our story, too. But in order to and grandchildren in the Yizkor Book of Siemiatycze understand how each of us can connect to this (a town located about 80 miles east of Warsaw): personal feeling of redemption, we need to consider where we came from, and what experiences we are …you who will read the story of my a productThe of. workIt is ofnecessary JewishGen to (jewishgen.orgexplore how we) likewise fit promotes the intrinsiclife, you valuemust of understand human life. that By researching the life within andDearthe continuumdiscovering JewishGen Community,ourof the collective Jewish andpeople, individual while roots, we keep aliveof your the memory fathers and of those grandfathers who came in before recognizingus. JewishGen our responsibilities serves as the to global future home generations. for Jewish genealogy. the old-time shtetl was both holy and The Haggadah instructs that in “every generation” generation,tragic. and ourShtetl-dwellers history has been — marred shopkeepers by The enemieseach individual of the Jewish should people feel that exist he or in she every was catastrophe, trials and tribulations – yet we are and craftsmen — toiled day and night personally redeemed from Egypt. The story of defined by perseverance, faith and hope in the future. the Exodus is not just about what happened to As Michel (Mikhl) Radzinski wrote to his children 2 תש״פ | תשע״ט |our ancestors. It is our story, too. But in order to and grandchildrenJewishGenJewishGen Passoverin the Passover Yizkor Companion CompanionBook of2019 Siemiatycze 2020 | 5779 | 5780 2 understand how each of us can connect to this (a town located about 80 miles east of Warsaw): personal feeling of redemption, we need to consider where we came from, and what experiences we are …you who will read the story of my a product of. It is necessary to explore how we fit life, you must understand that the life within the continuum of the Jewish people, while of your fathers and grandfathers in recognizing our responsibilities to future generations. the old-time shtetl was both holy and tragic. Shtetl-dwellers — shopkeepers The enemies of the Jewish people exist in every and craftsmen — toiled day and night תשע״ט | JewishGen Passover Companion 2019 | 5779 2 JewishGen features unparalleled access to 30+ million records, offers unique search tools, and opportunities for researchers to connect with others who share similar interests. In addition, JewishGen’s extensive informational, educational and historical offerings, such as the Jewish Communities Database, Yizkor Book translations, InfoFiles, and KehilaLinks, provide critical insights, first-hand accounts, and context about Jewish communal and familial life throughout the world. No matter where you find yourself on Seder night, even if you are alone, when you recite “we were once strangers in the land of Egypt,” consider Cover of a Ukrainian Yizkor the countless examples of kindness, faith, compassion, and hope that are book published in 1964 described within this Passover Companion. They may be a comfort at a time when so many people are facing extreme hardships. Thank you for being part of the JewishGen and Museum communities, and helping to celebrate the value of individual life, experiencing the richness of shared Jewish heritage, and preserving our collective Jewish roots. Let us pray that this current pandemic will soon be a memory. Wishing you a safe, healthy and Happy Passover. Jack Kliger President & CEO Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust Avraham Groll Executive Director JewishGen.org Cover image: This ceramic plate was intended for use at the Passover .org Seder meal, with indentations for ritual Passover foods. The plate was manufactured, c. 1946, in a workshop established for Holocaust survivors to teach them new skills under the auspices of the Edmond J. Safra Plaza | 36 Battery Place American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Its raised New York, NY 10280 rim bears depictions of slaves and taskmasters; iconographic images 646.494.5972 | [email protected] of the Holy Land; and the Hebrew text includes “from slavery to freedom”, and “this year in Jerusalem”, reflecting both the Passover ©2020, JewishGen, Inc. story and the hope of many survivors in displaced persons camps All Rights Reserved to establish their future homes in the Land of Israel. Collection of Contents design: Jen Klor, Jerusalem | jenklor.com Museum of Jewish Heritage. 3 תש״פ | JewishGen Passover Companion 2020 | 5780 Youthful Preparations for Passover Antopol, Belarus The following excerpt from the Yizkor Book of Antopol, Belarus, was written by Moshe Polak. Antopol had a long history of Jewish settlement and scholarship and many great Rabbis, including Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik (later of Yeshiva University), served the the community over time. In this piece, the author describes the youthful excitement that permeated the air leading up to the Passover holiday. Antopol was in the Grodno province before WWI, and was in Poland between the wars. In 1900, there were 3,137 Jews living in the town, comprising a majority of the population. Located 46 miles from Brest, Antopol was annexed to the new Poland formed after WWI, and soon became a center of fighting between the Russians and Poles. The Russians took over Antopol toward the beginning of WWII, and held it until the Nazis overtook the town in June 1941. Under the Nazis, “the Jews of Antopol were persecuted, tortured, and imprisoned in a ghetto, but they did not surrender. They fought back, joined the partisans and took an active part in the underground.” In July 1944, the Red Army reconquered Antopol, but her Jews were no more. Thus came an end to more than three centuries of Jewish life in Antopol. PASSOVER and the preparations for it involved a flour of Gediyah in order to grind the wheat that had lot of cleaning. There was not a thing that was not been watched not to leaven. Afterwards, there came taken out of the house for cleaning. All our clothing in line the cleaning and fixing of the oven of Esther and bedding were cleaned and aired. All the closets the baker. The very baking of matsah was done with and cabinets were swept and washed. Even the eating mutual cooperation among all the relatives. It took utensils used for all the year but not on Passover were each family about five hours and about three days for completely cleaned before they were stored in the all of them. Mainly, girls did this, rolling the matsah attic. before baking it. One or two boys would be enough to pass a wheel with teeth to punch holes in every The preparations included cleaning the storage areas matsah before its baking. Adults put the matsah in for for the holiday, barrel for matsah, a closet with jams baking and took it out. and cans of goose fat, and a big wooden mortar. Everything was cleaned and made kosher. After baking the matsah and preparing the house, I would bring a sack of shaved wood to spread on My father also would be busy outside the house. He the floor. Afterwards, I would rush to polish all the would hurry to make ritually fit the mill to grind copper pots, baking, and eating utensils.