· Memorial Service, eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day

· Discover your roots’, trip to Poland, Zamosc area

· Help us continue our important memorial work

· Third generation – first meeting

· News from the ancient synagogue of Zamosc

· The ‘Zamość Forest’ at Nataf [in the Forest of Polish Jewry]

· The launching of the first “Forest Book” The book “Destruction of the Zamość Jewry” in Polish.

· Building of the Synagogue in Modi’in – a replica of the ancient Sephardic Synagogue in Zamość

· Appeal

Dear Friends, Natives of Zamość and its Environs, and Continuing Generations,

· Memorial Service, eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day

The annual Zamosc memorial service, the 60^th, will be held on the eve of Holocaust Day, Monday, 24.4.06 at the Tel Aviv Art Museum, 27 King Shaul Blvd., Tel Aviv at 18:30. The service will begin at around 20:00

You and your families – the revived community – are all invited to participate in this special evening commemorating those who perished. Attendance and sharing in this important commemoration recharges one’s batteries and generates warmth and fellow-feeling.

All Zamoscers, first, second and third generation, are invited to join the hundreds who already take part in our activities and our memorial service.

Today, in the face of new waves of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionist rhetoric (the like of which, according to many observers, has not been seen or heard since the Holocaust) – who, if not we, the survivors, their children and grandchildren, must form a bulwark and declare in a single voice: we shall not forget nor let it be forgotten!

Is it not we who must carry the memorial torch? Each and every one of us makes a difference!

· ‘Discover your roots’, trip to Poland, Zamosc area

A multi-generation study tour to Poland, emphasizing the Zamosc area – on 2.7.2006

This will be the tenth such tour organized by the Israeli Zamosc organization. The trip will include 3 days in and around Zamosc, a memorial ceremony, and assistance to anyone trying to find the addresses of their Zamosc families or to complete family trees. Evening discussions will allow participants to form close relations and feel like a family by the end of the trip.

As the number of places is limited, those interested should please sign up as soon as possible.

Price: $1250

Without flights: $795

Registration is proceeding apace. If you are interested in joining the trip, please contact:

Mr. Moshe Hartman of ‘Gamma Tours’:

Tel: 972-4-9887755, ext. 7, Fax: 972-4-9883283, mobile: 050-7233547

e-mail: mosheh "at" planetto.co.il

Mr. Chaim Mizrachi – Tel: 050–6852859

e-mail: haim2000 "at" gmail.com

· Help us continue our important memorial work

Since we would like to contact as many descendents as we can of Zamosc and its vicinity, we would ask you to list the names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail or other contact information of your relatives (immediate family, cousins, grandchildren etc.).

· Third Generation – first meeting

You are the “torch-bearers”, the ones who will carry and pass on memory. It is time to become involved. A meeting – the first of a series – for the third generation only – was already held. The purpose being to become involved in ongoing activities:

In Israel:

- Making a movie

- Managing the website under construction [updates and corrections; scanning photos, etc.]

- Planning a ceremony to be held ay the Zamosc Pavillion in the “Forest of Polish Jewry” at Nataf (May 2006) and include a breakfast, performances and tree-planting for the whole family. Photo enclosed.

Abroad:

- Documenting first-generation personal stories

- Locating people whose families hailed from Zamosc & vicinity

- Collecting material, documents, scanning and posting to the website

- Social activities

Long-Term Aim – choosing a representative committee

Age-groups:

14-30 ……..contact Noel Bar-Zeev……. noel.barzeev "at" gmail.com

30+ ……….contact Oren Schmeiser……oren "at" pastelmovies.co.il

· News from the Ancient Zamość Synagogue

Affixing a Mezuzah – 60 Years Later

Some 200 pupils from Rishon LeZion’s Re’ali High School, led by Dahlia Ophir (of the Sobol/Horovitz/Laks families) travelled to Zamosc and affixed a mezuzah of our purchase on the synagogue doorpost. This was followed by hours of dancing within the synagogue, by flashlight and candlelight since the synagogue has no electricity.

The Righteous Shall Not Enter There

Part of the synagogue was sold right after the end of the Second World War (by whom???). It seems that despite the war’s end, the Poles too embraced the German laws nationalizing Jewish property.

Now, it has been sold again to a developer who wants to build a hotel. It includes the former main entrance – above which an inscription read: “Through this gate - the righteous shall enter”.

All our attempts to ascertain who sold the property that belongs to the Jewish community. This sail is apart from the “general sale” of community assets held by Jacobovicz in Krakow under the veil of law or by the municipality, which converted the community center adjoining the synagogue into offices, pocketing the rent. Obviously, it is not legal since only the community was the rightful owner and the community was destroyed and ceased to exist.

If we had the means, we could ascertain the identity of the sellers and sue them, if only to demand the return of the synagogue’s main entrance.

· Tree planting in honour of births in the Zamosc Forest at Nataf

Over the years, our organization has been commemorating members who had passed away, by planting trees in their memory. From now on we intend to plant trees also in honor of new births in descendant families of Zamość and vicinity. All those who celebrated the birth of a baby as of April 2005, please send us by post, fax or email the relevant details – the child’s name and date of birth, the names of the parents and the family name in the Zamość area.

· The Launching of the "Forest Book"

Since the organization’s foundation in Israel in 1945, every year trees have been planted to commemorate members who passed away during that calendar year. Organization members have also donated trees for the Zamość Grove (located at Nataf in the hills of Jerusalem) in memory of their loved ones. We want to public the "Forest Book".

Please send us a photograph and brief biography [up to 150 words - the biography should be typed] of the deceased relative. Please understand that the biography may be edited!

Either by:

1. CD or email as well as a cheque for $120 by post, made out to the organization.

or 2. A non-scanned photograph and biography, by regular mail.

If you choose the second option, please note that the photograph(s) should be the original, and will not be returned. The cover-letter should specify the name of the person, his/her parents’ names, mother’s maiden name, and the year [or approximate year] that the photograph was taken.

The cost in this case will be $150.

You are invited to plant trees in memory of your loved ones.

Please send $22 x no. of trees you wish to plant.

The Memorial Forest to the Polish Jewry

· Building the Synagogue at Modi’in – a replica of the ancient Sephardic Synagogue

Micha Koenig [of the Kenig family from Zamość and Rajs family from Bilgoraj] and I met with the representatives of a group of young people who wish to build a synagogue in Modi’in, which is to be a replica of the ancient Sephardic synagogue in Zamość, dating back to the sixteenth century. Two dunams of land have already been designated by the council, and further efforts are now under way to carry out this project. Attorney Menachem Nebenzahl, a real estate lawyer, has volunteered to oversee the project.

Sincerely,

Eva Bar-Ze’ev

Chairwoman

(from Szper/Efros/Lewin/Edelsztajn families)