Losice Yizkor Book

לזכר אן אומגעבראכטער קהילה

IN MEMORY OF A JEWISH COMMUNITY EXTERMINATED BY NAZI MURDERERS

Editor: Mordechai Szner (B. Feder), Published by the Union of the Remnants of the Jewish Community of Łosice (Poland), Tel Aviv 1963

Translated from Yiddish by Viktor Lewin

email: viklewin@shaw.ca (replace "at" with to avoid spam)

Acknowledgement by the Translator

I wish to acknowledge the help of a number of people who assisted me in the translation of the Yizkor Book. My wife, Cheryl Lewin who read at least one page everyday for the past year. She did the reading in Yiddish and I translated into English.

My mother, Freda Lewin who translated a great many words which are similar in German. My uncle, Pinie Levine who was an invaluable resource helping in the translation of many words the meaning of which could only be known by someone from the locality of Łosice, Poland.

Gila Isaacs, a volunteer at the Jewish Heritage of Western Canada, giving kindly of her time to translate stories from Hebrew into English. Ada Holtzman, for doing such a wonderful job in the name of the Jewish survivors of Łosice and their children who are concerned enough to remember what once was, and to attempt to correct what is.

Viktor Lewin April 2003.

Losice Memorial Stone at the Zion Mountain Holocaust Cellar, Jerusalem.

Day of Remembrance (the great deportation): Elul 9, 5762 (August 22nd, 1942).

Book Editor: Mordechai Shner (B. Feder)

Editorial Board: Ben Yaakov Josef, Goldstein Chaim Icel, Pasternak-Hochman Rachel, Rozenband - Bialikamien Chaja-Rachel, Rozal Dawid, Rozal Menachem, Szmulewicz - Goldband Belcia, Shner Mordechai

Translation to Hebrew and Editing: A. Bar-Tana

Translated by Viktor Lewin, Canada

Images scanned by Warren Grynberg, U.K.

English version was edited by Ada Holtzman, Tel Aviv May 2004

	Author		Language		Page
From the Editorial Board					7
To the memory of Łosice	Dawid Rozal (Tel Aviv)		Hebrew		8
To the memory of Łosice	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		9
The Shtetl
Łosice and Łosicer Jews in the course of their history	B. Feder		Yiddish		11
Łosice and Łosicer Jews in the course of their history	B. Feder		Hebrew		17
Can we forget?	Josef Fridman (Yosel Bubik, Melbourne)		Yiddish		21
Can we forget?	Josef Fridman (Yosel Bubik, Melbourne)		Hebrew		24
That was our town	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		26
Memories of the Past
The two great fires	Mordechai Shner		Yiddish		33
The large wooden synagogue	Herszel Kupersztok		Yiddish		36
The year 1905 and the Beth Midrash Menorahs (Candlesticks)	Moisze Oksenhorn		Yiddish		38
Losice During Wars and Revolutions	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		40
"Followers of "Zapasnea" in 1914	Ben Aron Alter Shchori		Yiddish		46
The funeral of Jakob Isres	Yosef Fridman (Yosel Bubik)		Yiddish		47
The"Shabath desecrator" is brought to the grave of Israel	Chaim Zinger (Haifa)		Hebrew		49
One year with the old cantor (Khazan)	Yosef Fridman		Yiddish		50
Poor and Rich	Cipora Graber-Koifman		Yiddish		52
Pogrom - Slander	Ahron Preter		Yiddish		53
Social Movements
Shoemaking and Professional Movements	Chaim Iczel Goldstein (Paris)		Yiddish		55
Professional Leatherworkers Union	Yosef Fridman (Josel Bubik)		Yiddish		62
Forty Years of the "Bund" in Losice	Yosef Fridman (Josel Bubik)		Yiddish		65
The Zionist Movement	Abraham Pinkus		Yiddish		74
Social Activism in the Shtetl	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		81
The movement of Hashomer Hatzair in our town	Rachel Hochman (Givataiim), Menachem Rozal		Hebrew		85
Period of boom in the organization of Hashomer Hatzair	Balcia Goldband-Szmulewicz		Hebrew		87
Memories of Hashomer Hatzair in Losice	Josef Ben Jakob (Jaszczomb, Tel Aviv)		Hebrew		88
The shoemaker's workshop in the movement of Hashomer Hatzair	Rachel Hochman		Hebrew		92
Friends who are gone...	Rachel Hochman		Hebrew		93
A town in Podlasia	Eliezer Bar Chaim (Barnholc)		Hebrew		95
The lecture of one anti-Semite...	Balcia Godelband-Szmulewicz (Kibbutz Negba)		Hebrew		98
"Yugen Freiheit " in Losice	Berl Binsztok (Jaffa)		Yiddish		99
The Jewish Community	Lajbel Hofer (Holon)		Yiddish		104
Community Administration in Independent Poland	Shmuel Landau (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		105
Religious Social Activism	Shmuel Landau		Yiddish		106
Jewish Credit Institutions	Lajbel Hofer		Yiddish		109
Help for the Villagers	Lajbel Hofer		Yiddish		111
Iron Safe and the Bank	Shmuel Landau		Yiddish		112
Drama Groups and Choirs	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		114
My mother's Sabbath dress (a poem)	Yosef Fridman (Josel Bubik)		Yiddish		116
The Religious Life
Several Łosicer Rabbis	Avraham Pinkus		Yiddish		117
Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschuetz in Kock	Gdalyahu Grosman (Tel Aviv)		Hebrew		122
My grandfather "the shaky" ("der citeriker")	Rabbi Yehuda Altowski (New York)		Yiddish		122
The Konstantiner Rabbi	Yosef Fridman		Yiddish		127
My grandfather, Rabbi Jozpa (Joizep)	Avraham Sluchowski (Paris)		Yiddish		130
Joizep and Pinye Joizeps	Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		131
Icchak Shoichet ("Szinkarzsz")	Yosef Fridman		Yiddish		133
Torah and Labor and Godfearingness	Icchak Meir Grinberg (Kfar Khabad)		Yiddish		135
Melameds (teachers), Cheders and Yeshivot (religious schools)	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		137
A strike in the Cheder	Yosef Fridman		Yiddish		140
Sabbaths and holidays in Łosice	Yitzhak Faigenblum (Curitiba Brazil)		Yiddish		142
People of the Shtetl
Not here...	Leibl Dobrzinski (Bogota Colombia)		Yiddish		145
Godel Rozenband	Mordechai Shner		Yiddish		147
Gad Rozenband - my teacher and Rabbi	Balcia Goldband-Szmulewicz		Hebrew		154
Abraham Pinkus	Szalom Icchak Wrobel		Yiddish		155
Herszel Karcz	Sara Czarnobrode - Karcz (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		156
Matatyahu Goldwasser	Szalom Icchak Wrobel		Yiddish		158
Zalman Minc	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		159
The Kaminer Family	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		161
Jeszajahu Szenker and Jehoszua Hochman	Chana and Rachel Hochman (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		162
Yerachmiel Cohen and the Anti-Semite commander	Biniamin Zilbersztein (Paris)		Yiddish		166
The first Gymnasium student in Łosice	Fiszel Cohen (Haifa)		Yiddish		167
My father Dow Berisz Landau	Szmuel Landau		Yiddish		169
Our brother Szalom Icchak Wrobel	Harry Wrobel and Tema Wrobel-Fisher (Liverpool)		Yiddish		170
Rabbi Szalom Icchak Wrobel	Rabbi Zalman Barm"a Plotnik (Liverpool)		Hebrew		172
Yidel Sarakes	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		173
Yosel Chanas and his son Eliezer	Sara Grosman - Liberman (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		174
Meir Krakowiak	Malka and Chaim Krakowiak (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		177
Jakob and Yenta Rozencwajg	Balcia and Mosze Rozencwajg (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		178
Abraham Sztejnman			Yiddish		178
Szlomo and Dwora Liberman	Abraham Liberman (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		179
Szmulke Wolker			Yiddish		180
My grandfather Mendel Wajman	Icchak Rozenblat		Yiddish		181
My father, Zwendel Ber "the taverner"	Abraham Ber (Haifa)		Hebrew		181
The "Chazan" (the cantor) Icchak Meir Rozal	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		182
Dawid Yagodzinski	Szalom Icchak Wrobel		Yiddish		183
Abraham & Malka Wrobel	Szalom Icchak Wrobel		Yiddish		183
Abraham Icchak Goldring	Szalom Icchak Wrobel		Yiddish		184
Icchak Oppenheim	Biniamin Zilbersztejn		Yiddish		184
Mosze Gad Klerman	Biniamin Zilbersztejn		Yiddish		184
Abraham Wasserman	Biniamin Zilbersztejn		Yiddish		184
Yosef Aharon Rozal	Biniamin Zilbersztejn		Yiddish		185
Welwel Szemesz	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		186
Israelke " Floi " & the old Hazzan (cantor)	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		186
R' Mordechiles Ajnkel	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		187
"Aharon Rofe"	Arie Szpialter (Tel Aviv)		Hebrew		187
The Goldszmidt	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		188
Yokel Foyker	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		188
Welwel Sznajder	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		188
Abraham Woda, the tailor	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		189
The watchmaker	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		189
Szmulke Szpialter	Aria Szpialter		Yiddish		189
The Yeshiva young men	Szalom Icchak Wrobel		Yiddish		190
Young ones and youth	Tema Wrobel Fiszer		Yiddish		190
Jankel Tretniks "demon"	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		193
Awigdor "Faldseszat" and son	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		193
Josze the postman	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		194
Israel Icchak Grinberg the "Olearnik"	Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		195
Szewa Bajla			Yiddish		196
Abraham Icchak Stoler	Iczel Rak		Yiddish		198
Pitaie, the Water Carrier	Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		198
Szlomo the "Nedn", the dowry			Yiddish		200
Meir the "Meshugener", the crazy	Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		201
Josel Tomkes	Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		202
Jeszaya Cohen	Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		204
Antczelicha	Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		205
Cziczeperelicha	Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		205
Workers and Leaders
Our dreamers and fighters ("The gotele"), Bajla Jonasz, Yosel Czop, IczBer and Jankel Roizes, Ziskind Sztajnman, Towia thm, Dawid Minc, Josel Chaja- Malies)		Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		209
Mele Koka		Iczel Rak		Yiddish
JMinc (Joszke Chaja-Lipszic)		Josef Fridman		Yiddish		214
Mosze "Khacham" (wise man)		B. Feder		Yiddish		216
Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		219
Jehoszua Rozal		David Rozal		Yiddish		220
Iczel Rak		Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		221
My sister Elka Fridman		Josef Fridman		Yiddish		222
Yochcze Fridman		Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		224
Revofrom the Chassidic Prayer house		B. Feder		Yiddish		227
Personalities
Mosze Goldstein, the talented writer				Yiddish		233
Josef Fridman ("Yosel Bubik")		Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		237
Mordechai Szner (B. Feder)		Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		239
The Holocaust ("der Khurban")
Unbelievable		Chaja Rachel Rozenband (Colombia)		Hebrew		241
It is difficult to believe		Chaja Rachel Rozenband		Yiddish		242
First Nazi Bomb to fall on Łosice		Biniamin Zilberstein (Paris)		Yiddish		243
At night in an empty Shtetl		Jehoszua Binstok (Ramot Yam)		Yiddish		246
Pain in the Ghetto		Mosze Smolarz (Kiriat Bialyk)		Yiddish		248
My father - among the first Łosicer victims		Ela Karszensztein Braun (Holon)		Yiddish		255
Mosze Bialykamien and the Judenrat				Yiddish		257
In the Łosicer Ghetto		Sz. Karszenstein		Yiddish		258
The black devil		Chana Borowski - Herszenzon (Jerusalem)		Yiddish		262
A Cry for help from the Łosicer Ghetto				Yiddish		264
Notes of Dr. Ringelblum				Yiddish		266
My generation in Łosice and its tragic end		Riwka Roitman - Rak (Petach Tikva)		Yiddish		267
Gela Seksztein and her will		B. Feder		Yiddish		275
Herszel Karcz during the Nazi occupation		Sara Karcz (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		278
My father (a poem)		Josef Fridman		Yiddish		281
In a fight with death		Eliahu Madenfrost (Givataiim)		Yiddish		282
Pictures from the "huge liquidation" in Łosice						285
Their last path		Oskar Pinkus (USA)		Hebrew		291
In Auschwitz		Ester Greczanik - Binstok (Tel Aviv		Yiddish		301
Łosicers from France in Auschwitz		Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		307
And may be? (a poem)		Josef Fridman		Yiddish		308
I survived in Łosice itself		Sara Wejman (Kfar Ata)		Yiddish		309
Aryans among Łosicer Poles		Chaja Szulamit Goldfeder-Ben-Arie (Ramat Gan)		Yiddish		313
How I survived		Bracha Zilberberg-Rozenboim (Bat Yam)		Yiddish		318
Ghettos, liquidations & forced work in Germany		Fradel Rozenboim (Venezuela)		Yiddish		323
Running away from hell		Nachum Woda (Ramat Gan)		Yiddish		331
In fields and forests		Arie Liberman (Ramot Yam)		Yiddish		333
Łosicers deported to Siberia		Itta Blatman Zilberstein (Paris)		Yiddish		336
From hometown to Siberia		Iczel Rak		Yiddish		340
On blooded paths		Josef Fridman ("Yosel Bubik"		Yiddish		342
Escaping the Holocaust		Chaim Rozal (Mishmar Hashiva)		Yiddish		350
Under arrest of the Nazis		Bucze Koifman (Paris)		Yiddish		353
Searching Łosicers as a Soldier in the Brigade		Welwel Sztajnman (Kiriat Chaim)		Yiddish		355
In Łosice right after the Holocaust		Chaim Szwarc (Jaffa)		Yiddish		357
A visit to Łosice after Hitler's defeat		Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		359
A Revenge
My sister Chaja, the partisan		Jehoszua Binsztok		Yiddish		365
Gerszon (Grisza) Goldberg		Chaim Dinar		Hebrew		368
Partisan's revenge		Gerszon (Grisza) Goldberg		Yiddish		369
I'd rather die with a gun in my Hand		Hela Karszenstein		Yiddish		371
In the Ghettos and partisan camps		Abraham Sluchowski		Yiddish		373
A German's Idea		Moishe Goldstein		Yiddish		376
List of the Jewish Martyrs of Łosice						383
Jews Spread Worldwide
From Łosice to America in 1900		Berl Elzon (United States)		Yiddish		413
Łosicers in the United States				Yiddish		415
Łosicers in France		Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		416
Łosicers in Argentina				Yiddish		417
Łosicers in Colombia		Chaja Rachel Rozenband		Yiddish		418
Łosicers in Brazil & England				Yiddish		419
Łosicers in Canada				Yiddish		420
Łosicers in the U.S.S.R., Uruguay, Venezuela, Australia, and Belgium				Yiddish		421
With Łosicers in Bolivia		Mordechai Szner		Yiddish		421
And in Poland...		Rojzka and Chaim Iczel Goldstein		Yiddish		424
In the Homeland
The Łosicer Landsleit in Israel		The editorial board		Hebrew		427
The Łosicer Landsleit in Israel		The editorial board		Yiddish		428
Łosicers who befell in the War of Independence				Hebrew		429
Matatyahu Mendelboim				Hebrew		429
Simcha Kaminer				Hebrew		430
Dawid Zlotogora (Har Zahav)				Hebrew		431
My brother Dawid		Margalit Apel		Hebrew		431
Łosicers in Israel's War of Independence				Yiddish		434
Dawid Rozal		The committee		Yiddish		436
Łosicers in Jerusalem		Jakob Fridman (Jerusalem)		Yiddish		438
The long, difficult path		Jehoszua Koifman (Tel Aviv)		Yiddish		440
From Ein Kharod in the north to Negba in the south		M. Sz.		Yiddish		443
Rachel Lewin				Yiddish		445
Members of "Hashomer Hatzair" in Israel		R. H.		Hebrew		445
Family Rozenband				Yiddish		446
Family Weinstok		Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		449
Family Oxenhorn				Yiddish		451
Our Chaba"dnik		Dawid Rozal		Yiddish		452
Berl Binsztok		D. R.		Yiddish		453
From the Shoemaking Shtetl to the Field in Ganei Yona		B. Feder		Yiddish		454
Łosicer Landsleit in Israel				Yiddish		457

Chapters of the Yizkor Book:

The Shtetl (p. 1-32)

Memories of the Past (p.33 - 54)

Social Movements (p. 55-116)

The Religious Life (p. 117 – 142)

People of the Shtetl (p.145 – 207)

Workers and Leaders (p. 209 – 232)

Personalities (p. 233 – 240)

The Holocaust ("der Khurban") (p. 241 – 364)

Revenge (p 265 – 412)

Jews Spread Worldwide (p.413 – 426)

In the Homeland (p. 427 – 459)

Back to Łosice memorial Web Site

Last updated May 13^th, 2004

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