On March 20, 1942, thousands of Jews were rounded up and brought to the Rohatyn train plaza. From there, the Jews were loaded onto trucks and sent off to be murdered and buried en masse.
As they were being ushered forward, many saw a chance to save a child. That child was Donia.
On that day, Donia promised to find a way to remember those people and to bring her town ‘back to life.’ She acquired the permission from the Rohatyn Society to have the town’s Yizkor Book translated so that it maybe accessible to survivors, their families, and historians.
Donia collected biographies of the contributors and new memoirs. She recorded speeches and photos from the Rohatyn Society’s two visits to Rohatyn in the 1990’s.
Together, these form the contents of Remembering Rohatyn and its Environs; a testimony and commemoration for those who saved a grateful young girl.
Table of Content
Foreword by Rabbi Michael Berenbaum xvii
A Tribute to My Jewish Rescuers of Rohatyn xxx
The Rohatyn Societies xxxv
PART I – TRANSLATION OF THE YIZKOR BOOK
Introductory Remarks by Yehoshua Spiegel, Tel Aviv 5
Fire! 8
From the Desk of the Publisher 9
A City in Life and in Destruction 11
History of a Town 15
Royal Charter for the Jews of Rohatyn 84
Order of the Sejmik in Sadowa Wisznia 87
Collected Sources on Rohatyn During the Time of the Sabbatean Movement 89
Reb Yudel Finds a Husband for His Daughter in Rohatyn – Excerpts from “The Bridal Canopy” by S.Y. Agnon 94
The Hassidut of Stratyn 98
Rohatyn 111
The Rohatyn Way 114
A City in Life and in Destruction128
Inside Rohatyn 144
A Bundle of Memories 149
Tones of Home by 153
A City of Torah 157
Rohatyn: The Town and Its Character 159
Public Life in Rohatyn 163
A City in Life and in Destruction 165
Precious Images 167
My Home That Is Gone 169
Map of Jewish and Non-Jewish Businesses around the Rynek before World War II 172
Within the Town 173
A Person I Was Fond of 188
Daily Life 193
The Printing Trade in Our Town 200
Jewish Merchants among the Gentiles 202
Academic Professions 209
Attempts at Drama 211
The Personalities of Our Town 217
Rabbi Avraham David Spiegel, Z”L 220
The Young Dayan 223
Two Letters of Rabbi Avraham David Spiegel to His Son Yehoshua Spiegel 228
Our Rabbi and Teacher, Rabbi Mordechai Lipa Teumim 232
From the Letters of Rabbi Teumim 237
In Memoriam to Yosef Ha Cohen Laks 239
Reb Yosef Yehuda Ben Reb Michel Sofer (Blattner) 241
Yerachmiel Schwartz 243
Yaakov Leiter and His Wife Sarah 244
The Long Moshe (Moshe Roher) 247
Some of the Personalities of Our Town 248
Raphael Soferman 251
Memories of the Ha Shomer Ha Tzair Movement in Rohatyn 259
The Ha Shomer Ha Tzair Chapter 265
Ha Noar Ha Tzioni 268
The Chalutz Association in Rohatyn 272
Gordonia in Rohatyn 273
Betar 275
The Youth of the Town 278
The Community of Rohatyn Destroyed 287
From Tales of Those Days 291
Pepka Kleinwachs 298
Rohatyn During the Occupation Years 299
The Destruction of Rohatyn 306
A Rohatyn Girl’s Road through Hell 311
From Hiding Place to Hiding Place 320
The Story of One Bunker 338
Jewish Centers around Rohatyn 345
Bursztyn 347
Bukaczowce 360
Bukaczowce 362
Zurow and Bukaczowce 364
Knihynicze 368
In the Village Settlement Podkamien 373
The Jews of Czesniki (Yid. Chesnik) 377
Lipica Gorna 383
Jews in Lipica Gorna 390
The Organization of Survivors of Rohatyn 397
Rohatyn: A World Is Gone with the Wind 405
A World That Was 415
A Diary of the Rohatyn Ghetto 423
The Death Of Chaimke 428
How Rohatyn Died 435
PART II - Kaddish in Rohatyn, More Memoirs, Biographies of Contributors, Photographs of Rohatyn Society Visits 551
About the author
Michael Berenbaum (born July 31, 1945 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and filmmaker, who specializes in the study of the Holocaust. He served as Deputy Director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust (1979-1980), Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) (1988-1993), and Director of the USHMM’s Holocaust Research Institute (1993-1997).
Berenbaum played a leading role in the creation of the USHMM and the content of its permanent exhibition. From 1997 to 1999 he served as President and CEO of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, and subsequently (and currently) as Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust, located at the American Jewish University (formerly known as the University of Judaism), in Los Angeles, CA.
More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
225,290 Ebooks in this category
