Page 1 of 290 Copyright 004 by M.T. Simkovitz ________________________________________________________________ All right reserved. The author is solely responsible for the content of this book. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author. Brief quotations may be used in re- view prepared for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast. This is a historical fiction book. All historical information is based upon the author’s personal research listed in this book. The Levi and Hirsch families, as well as various other characters named in this book, are fictional representations. Their stories bear no resemblance or accuracy of portrayal to anyone living or dead. Public events and dates given are accurate as far as can be determined. Insofar as it was possible to be true to the storyline and craft of storytelling. Accu- rate historical information has been presented without bias or intent to influence the reader away from objective understanding of facts. Published by Granite Publishing & Distribution, LLC 868 North 40 West, Orem Utah 84057 USA Toll-free .800.574.5779, Tel. 80.9.90, Fax 80.9.94 Printed in the United States of America For further information, contact the author at: www.jewishconvert-lds.com; or, www.peopleofthebook-judaica.com Book design, typography and photo-illustration by Kim Cooney dba Byzintek 584 SE 47th Street, Bellevue, Washington 98006-64 USA [email protected]; www.byzintek.com; 45.64.0 Pre-restoration cover photo: N.E. Rasmussen Page 2 of 274 DEDICATION This book is lovingly dedicated to the more than 20,000 victims of the Berdichev Shoah of August and September 1941 and the 35,000 victims of Babi Yar soon after in Kiev. Many of my parents’ family died in those Nazi massacres. These precious millions of dead still cry for their stories to be heard; they still ache for G-d’s* justice to vindicate their hope for a world of peace and an end to hatred. We all await the time when our Father in Heaven will bring to pass the promises the Eternal One has made to His Chosen. I know that day will come. _________________________________________________________________________________ * Use of “G-d”: Symbol for the full spelling of the Sacred Name. This substitution of the dash for the “o” in the word complies with orthodox Jewish belief that the fully spelled-out word must be used only in sacred writings. 5 Page 3 of 274 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank D. Barney, G. Boyd, F.C., C. Moomey, B. Phillips, my editor Michael McIrvin, and especially N. E. Rasmussen, for their insights and editorial assistance with this record. 7 Page 4 of 274 CONTENTS Dedication Acknowledgements Ukrainian National Anthem Prologue Foreward PART ONE: THE MOTHERLAND A Perspective Chorus: The Levi Family One: Nights of Prowling Wolves Two: Garden of Deceit Three: Innocence Stands As Witness Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Rosalia Four: The Land of Havilah Five: Thresholds Six: Cast Thy Net On Hope Seven: Where Heaven and Earth Meet Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Maisel PART TWO: THE FATHERLAND Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Marta Avromovich The Hirsch Family Eight: Harvest of Wild Fruit Nine: Wanderers in a Strange Land Ten: Dark Assembly Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Abraham Isopovich Eleven: A Plague of Locusts Twelve: Sweat Saves Blood 9 Page 5 of 274 PART THREE: THE KINDER Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Belza Ester and Gerhardt Thirteen: In Advance of Peril Fourteen: Satan’s Legions Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Reb Katzenbach Fifteen: Holocaust Sixteen: The Russian Delusion Seventeen: The Wolf Shall Vex the Lamb Eighteen: Bouquets of Good and Evil Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Helmut Kamper Nineteen: Besieged Twenty: Shoah on Brodskii Street Twenty One: Voice From the Dust Twenty Two: Kalyna, The Guilder Rose Chorus: Journal of the Dead — Tevye Rabinowitz Epilogue Appendices I: Post-Nazi Berdichev II: Leaders: A Listing III: Treaty of Versailles IV: Nazism V. Timeline of the Holocaust Significant References 0 Page 6 of 274 UKRAINE LIVES ON (Shche Ne Vmerla Ukrayina) Ukraine lives on, so too its glory and freedom, Good fortune will still smile on us, brother Ukrainians. Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine, And we, too brothers, we’ll live happily in our land. We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom And we’ll prove that we are brothers of Kozak kin. We’ll rise up, brothers, all of us, from the Syan River to the Don, We won’t let anyone govern in our motherland. The Black Sea will smile, and grandfather Dnipro will rejoice, In our Ukraine good fortune will yet abound. Our persistence, our sincere toil will prove its rightness, Still our freedom’s loud song will spread throughout Ukraine. It’ll resound upon the Carpathians, and sound through the Steppes, While Ukraine’s glory will arise among the people. — Ukrainian National Anthem 11 Page 7 of 274 Reflect upon three things, and you will never fall into the power of sin: know what is above you — a seeing eye and a hearing ear, and all your deeds are recorded. — R Judah, Talmud, Aboth II, I. PROLOGUE The Lord speaks to His Chosen: “For a small moment I have forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee… “Oh, thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness… “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the firs, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work’ and I have created the waster to destroy. “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. “ — Isaiah 7, 11-, 6-7, KJV Page 8 of 274 During three hours of each day G-d sits on His throne of justice. When He sees the world is worthy of being destroyed, He moves to His throne of mercy. — Talmud A.Z. b FOREWORD I cannot say what propelled me along the dusty meander- ing roads of the Ukrainian Steppes. It may have been a lust for adventure, or a certainty that somehow I would find in the broad meadows and cool streams that give way to dense alder forests, a lingering peacefulness. At a particular junction I found in a half-buried, sealed metal box two blood-stained Stars of David, a frightening testament to Nazi terror. An unreadable name was etched into the lid in He- brew. As I touched the rusty edges I was overcome with sadness. The artifact’s owner had surely been murdered nearby. In the sud- den piercing cry of an owl I imagined the scream for mercy, the plea for help against bewildering, sudden death: “Give me more life! It is too soon!” How can we help but shudder? Is this not the scream of all mankind if, as partakers on the moving threshold of time we are told there are no more choices to be made? But the spirit of man cannot be killed. In these gathered remembrances is irrefutable record of the shoah (holocaust) in Berdichev and the heroism of the doomed. I add it to the testa- ments of Ukraine’s holocaust victims that have been gathered. Their fate echoes and aches in my soul against the day I, too, must face my final hour. Will I plead, as the wearers of Solomon’s Seal must have cried, “Give me more life. It is too soon!” I pray the suffering of this unknown Jew was heeded and that he enjoys a peaceful spirit life with all his departed. I have faith as I peer into the eyes of innocent children or those of sea- soned age, that there is a grander Plan for all of us: With that sure expectation, life and its possibilities are endless. 5 Page 9 of 274 On the broad back of history is borne the future of mankind. PART ONE THE MOTHERLAND THE LEVI STORY 7 Page 10 of 274 HITLER’S PLAN TO CONQUER THE UKRAINE AND RUSSIA 8 Page 11 of 274 The time of Hitler arrived; a wolfish century. It was a time when people lived like wolves, and wolves lived like people. — Vasily Grossman A PERSPECTIVE German Occupation Berdichev, also written as Bardichev, Berditchev, Berdithov, Berdyczow, now a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, is a town of West Russia in the Zhitomir Oblast (district). It is situated at 49º 54’ North, 28º 35 East on a world map, sixteen miles SW of Kiev by rail, and about 100 kilometers from the Polish border established in World War II. Berdichev is known to have been in existence since the fourteenth century. Berdichev is a rail junction. It was the industrial and trade center of an area where sugar beets were raised. Berdichev passed to Lithuania in 1546 and to Poland in 1569; there is no evidence that a Jewish community existed there before 1721 but at that time a community began to form. According to the 1765 census the Jews in Berdichev numbered 1,220.