Kartuz-Bereza Yzkor Book
1958
INTRODUCTION
About the Book
Kartuz-Breze was a small town on the eastern border of
the State of Poland. Till 1920, it had been part of Greater Russia, but between
1920 and 1939 it was ruled by Poland. At the end of World War II it reverted to
Russian rule, and today it is part of Belorussia. Thousands of similar towns —
some bigger and some smaller — were in that area, as well as in Eastern and
Central Europe. It was the concentration camp which the Polish government
established there between the two World Wars for her political opponents —
mostly Communists — which brought fame to Kartuz-Breze.
Before the Second World War, about 4,500 Jews lived in
and around Kartuz-Breze. These were Jews of all kinds: a small number were
wealthy, but most were ordinary folk, who struggled day by day and hour by hour
— each at the work or vocation which was his fate — to eke out a living.
Kartuz-Breze had all the earmarks of a Jewish town in
Eastern Europe: synagogues, a Hassidic "shtible", a bath house and
mikveh, an organization dealing with charity and good deeds, and also, of
course, beggars, Torah students, pious and charitable people, and many
righteous women... to these were added all the accoutrements of modernity and
‘Haskala" such as political parties (both Zionist and non-Zionist), youth
movements, communal activities, as well as a Yiddish school and even a Hebrew
school, ‘Tarbut".
And nothing is left of all this. It was all laid to
waste. Everything was destroyed.
In the forest of Bruno-Gora, where the members of the
Zionist youth groups used to celebrate Lag B’Omer with bows and arrows, the
Germans amassed more than 100,000 Jews from the area — and among these were
almost all the Jews of Kartuz-Breze — and there they shot and killed them, men,
women and children. Earth, do not conceal their blood!
In Kartuz-Breze today there is no sign of the vigorous
Jewish life which flourished there. Even in the forest of Bruno-Gora where
these Jews perished there is no sign.
Less than a handful of Jews from Kartuz-Breze remained
alive after the Shoa. Of these, some came to Israel. Others migrated elsewhere before the Shoah. There were those few who passed the war
years in Europe, mostly in concentration camps (among these were partisans and
soldiers of the Red Army). All the rest are no longer.
So it was decided: we would memorialize our town, and
commemorate the lives of our parents, our brothers and sisters, and our friends
who were killed; that we would publish their names, as well as something of
what we remember from the life there, of what we saw there: the people, our own
life experiences, and some of the history of the Jewish community in
Kartuz-Breze in general.
We approached this hallowed work with trepidation; two
editorial committees, one larger and one smaller, spare no efforts on this
labor of love:
Enlarged Committee:
1. Zipporah Brenner, decd.
2. Moshe Bernstein
3. Simha Nosatsky, decd.
4. Baruch Fisher
5. Noah Paniel
6. Penioa Rabb
Abridged Committee:
7. Moshe Tuchman
8. Shmuel Tinari
9. Chaim Ben Israel, co-ordinator
The material in this book was taken from encyclopedias
and Memorial Books, and books about our town published by neighboring
communities. Writings marked in the Table of Contents with a (1) were
translated from a book published in Yiddish by members of our town in Argentina
during year 1958, and these with the sign (...) were published by this
Organization. We publish specially, writings and people's personal memories of
Kartuz Bereza. The reader should keep in mind that personal memories are
subjective things, since each one describes personal impressions about things,
while other people can see it from another approach. Therefore, there will be
small differences among diverse writings.
In particular, we have not made any changes with
regard to what was written by participants of this book. In grammatical
proofreading, intervened my brother-in-law Ephraim Even, that was in the past
World Chairman of Labor Zionist Council from "Histadrut" (Central
Labor Organization) . This work was made with a lot of zeal and love, and goes
to him our gratefulness for this.
I want to thank to the Emigrants of Bereza and their
descendants, in Israel and abroad, that collaborated economically to publish
this book. I also thank to the friends that had written in spite of all
difficulties.
I want to thank specially my friends, Directors of the
Association: Tzipora Brener, Baruch Fisher and Penina Rab for their efforts and
their great help. While this book was being prepared, left us an Association
Director, Simcha Nosetzky Z"L (blessed his name), whose collaboration was
important. Be blessed his memory.
I also thank a lot Mrs. Sarit Tinari, owner of the
Editorial "Soul" that offered voluntarily to help in the preparation
of the book for it's printing.
Also receive thanks and blessings PENIEL and his wife
for their great help, and especially for translations from Yiddish to Hebrew.
Thank you to the designer Moishele Bernshtein for his
help to achieve a beautiful and artistic presentation. He was also in the
Council that defined graphics to print in the book.
Also receive thanks and blessings the editing friend
Schmuel Tinari for his general contribution and especially for his help for
fund raising to publish the book.
And a special gratefulness for the editing friend
Moishe Tuchman that drew with accuracy and care the map of the city, and
surrendered with fidelity the names of Jews of the town, that were annihilated
or died in fight.
The fruit of our effort, the book about Kartuz Bereza,
is presented to the reader. May this book be like a candle in memory of the
communities of innocent and pure Jews of K. Bereza, and especially to our
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren until the end of the
generations, to strengthen Jewish State and to fortify it that the Jewish
people will never again know a Shoah!
Chaim Ben Israel
Chairman, Organization of Surviors of Kartuz Bereza
and surroundings
Co-ordinating Editor
Tel Aviv, July 1993