Emanuel Ringelblum was born on 21 November 1900 in Buchach in East Galicia
as were his siblings – a brother and two sisters
He identified himself with the Jewish enlightenment movement – according to one of his friends from the World War I era
he looked like an ordinary Jew (…) dressed half Jewish
he sent his son to the local cheder; Emanuel completed the primary school in Buchach and began his education at a state gymnasium
he also joined a small Zionist youth organization ran by Cwi Heller
Ringelblum’s accounts of his childhood in Buchach weren’t preserved
although we know that he liked to recall his childhood days
Younf Emanuel attended there the Jan Dlugosz Gymnasium no.1
The Ringelblums found themselves in a bad financial situation
Mendel Najgroszl recalls that one could sense quiet sadness in a home where poverty and loneliness of uprooted people prevailed
[2] Some people remember him being sad and rarely smiling in that period
fair-haired student attracted everyone’s attention in his student’s cape
his Jewish folk and socialist songs could be heard in the city park
where he would spend summer evenings in a company of other young men and women
both memories are true and describe two different periods in Ringelblum’s life
Years spent in this city sparked the beginnings of his political activity: he joined the youth section of the Poalej Syjon party
with whose left-wing faction he remained associated for the rest of his life
he participated in the congress of the Jugnt organization in Warsaw
a fellow member of Poalej Syjon-Lewica
One of his students recalls: when we wanted to distract him from an upcoming test
we were asking him how little Uri was doing
He would beam with smile and begin to delight in telling us how clever Uri was and how quickly he was learning
he applied for a place at the medical studies at the University of Warsaw
but he wasn’t accepted due to numerus clausus
he began to study history in Warsaw
He made a living by private lessons and translations
he was also teaching in Poalej Syjon-Lewica’s evening schools
among others – in high schools in Vilnius
The diploma of a high school teacher of Emanuel RingelblumRingelblum Archive
he defended his PhD (Jews in Warsaw
and one year later he received the diploma of a high school teacher
He began to work at the „Jehudija” private gymnasium for Jewish girls
where he met Abraham Lewin – later to become an Oneg Shabbat associate
He gave up teaching in 1938
having decided to dedicate himself to social work
His sister Gizela (Giza) married<a href="/en/articles/artur-eisenbach-historian,91"> Artur Eisenbach, later –&nbsp;a&nbsp;historian of&nbsp;the Holocaust and director of&nbsp;the Jewish Historical Institute</a> (1966–1968)
one telegram from Giza was preserved –&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;message sent on&nbsp;19&nbsp;September 1942 from Buchach
she is&nbsp;asking about „her family’s health”
presumably already aware about the „resettlement” of&nbsp;the Warsaw Jews
Emanuel Ringelblum was not only researching the past
He&nbsp;was certain that the history of&nbsp;the Jewish community is&nbsp;an&nbsp;integral and crucial element of&nbsp;Poland’s complex history
he&nbsp;announced Sources for researching the history of&nbsp;Jews in&nbsp;Poland and in&nbsp;Eastern Europe
Ringelblum was working on&nbsp;its continuation (History of&nbsp;Jews in&nbsp;Warsaw until the end of&nbsp;the 18th century)
but he&nbsp;didn’t manage to&nbsp;publish it; many fragments were used as&nbsp;articles about the history of&nbsp;Jews in&nbsp;old Poland
He&nbsp;also wrote a&nbsp;study Projects and attempts to&nbsp;modify the status of&nbsp;Jews in&nbsp;the king Stanislaus Augustus era (1934) and the first historical study on&nbsp;Szmul Zbytkower
he&nbsp;had been cooperating with the „Encyclopedia Judaica” in&nbsp;Germany
where he&nbsp;published about 30&nbsp;monographs on&nbsp;Jewish communities in&nbsp;Poland
his monograph Jews in&nbsp;the Kościuszko Uprising was published
He founded the Seminar on&nbsp;the History of&nbsp;Jews in&nbsp;Poland
reformed in&nbsp;1923 into the Society of&nbsp;Young Historians under the patronage of&nbsp;YIVO (Institute for Jewish Research) in&nbsp;Vilnius
the Society had been functioning as&nbsp;the Warsaw Commission for Jewish History
The height of&nbsp;its activity was in&nbsp;the 1930s —&nbsp;from 1926
the organization had been publishing the „Junger Historiker” periodical (from 1934 —&nbsp;„Bleter far Geszichte”)
Ringeblum was prolific –&nbsp;he&nbsp;never ceased to&nbsp;write
even when he&nbsp;had to&nbsp;hide on&nbsp;the „aryan side” in&nbsp;1943
Artur Eisenbach wrote in&nbsp;his introduction to&nbsp;the „Chronicle of&nbsp;the Warsaw Ghetto”
that a&nbsp;bibliography of&nbsp;Ringelblum’s studies covers about 126 positions
Emanuel Ringelblum linked his scientific interest with social engagement (…) He&nbsp;believed that historical research should support the struggle for social and national liberation of&nbsp;the Jews
prove their contribution to&nbsp;the economic development and the independence movement in&nbsp;Poland
and through this –&nbsp;provide arguments for equality of&nbsp;Jews among other citizens of&nbsp;Poland
Ringelblum had an&nbsp;exceptional talent for management and didn’t give up&nbsp;even in&nbsp;the most difficult circumstances
His activity in&nbsp;the Poalej Syjon-Lewica had shaped in&nbsp;him a&nbsp;deep dedication for the research of&nbsp;Jewish history
an&nbsp;attachment for the Jewish masses and a&nbsp;strong sense of&nbsp;responsibility
he&nbsp;cared about popularizing Yiddish –&nbsp;already at&nbsp;school
he&nbsp;was encouraging his friends to&nbsp;speak the language
he&nbsp;contributed to&nbsp;a&nbsp;campaign supporting the idea of&nbsp;organizing a&nbsp;global congress of&nbsp;Yiddish-language culture in&nbsp;Poland
Genia Silkes remembered Emanuel Ringelblum as a person full of&nbsp;optimism
he&nbsp;was spreading good mood and lifting the spirits
He&nbsp;was boosting people’s courage and didn’t allow for resignation
People were becoming attached to&nbsp;Emanuel
he&nbsp;had been cooperating withe the Interest-Free Funding Central
he&nbsp;became an&nbsp;editor of&nbsp;„Folkshilf”
a&nbsp;periodical published by&nbsp;the institution (until 1938)
He&nbsp;was a&nbsp;member of&nbsp;the Union of&nbsp;the Jewish School Teachers in&nbsp;Poland and the Jewish Writers Society
He&nbsp;was also active in&nbsp;the Program Committee for History Teaching
a&nbsp;section of&nbsp;the Central Organization for Jewish Education
he&nbsp;was a&nbsp;full-time employee of&nbsp;Joint (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee)
he&nbsp;was involved in&nbsp;its various initiatives
mostly in&nbsp;providing help fot 6,000 Polish Jews expelled from Germany and remaining in&nbsp;a&nbsp;border camp in&nbsp;Zbąszyń
he&nbsp;took part in&nbsp;the 21st Zionist Congress in&nbsp;Geneva
despite receiving invitations to&nbsp;stay in&nbsp;the West
he&nbsp;returned to&nbsp;his home country in&nbsp;order to&nbsp;organize social support
As&nbsp;he&nbsp;wrote in&nbsp;the „Chronicle of&nbsp;the Warsaw Ghetto”: Our decision to&nbsp;return to&nbsp;the country was dictated by&nbsp;civic duty
but he&nbsp;refused –&nbsp;he&nbsp;decided to&nbsp;manage social help on&nbsp;behalf of&nbsp;Joint
the house in&nbsp;which he&nbsp;lived in&nbsp;together with his family at&nbsp;18&nbsp;Leszno street
He was active in&nbsp;the Central Committee for Help (later the Coordination Committee)
which oversaw the activity of&nbsp;Jewish humanitarian and charity organizations in&nbsp;Warsaw
It&nbsp;became a&nbsp;basis for the Jewish Social Self-Help in&nbsp;the ghetto; Ringelblum became the manager of&nbsp;the Social Work Section
He&nbsp;was also involved in&nbsp;resistance: in&nbsp;1942
he&nbsp;participated in&nbsp;founding the Jewish Combat Organization
he&nbsp;remained in&nbsp;contact with the Jewish Military Union
and from 1943 —&nbsp;with the Jewish National Committee
Delegation of Jewish historians at the VII International Congress of Historical Sciences
Oneg Shabbat and the Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto
Emanuel Ringelblum began to collect accounts of the events he witnessed and which – of what he was aware from the start – had no precedent in history
he was writing down notes in a diary-like form; he was recording not only his experiences
but also information shared by defectors escaping to Warsaw or people resettled from various parts of Poland
Ringelblum decided to add a framework to his documentation and to involve friends and acquintances
usually related to the structures of the Jewish Social Self-Help
He accomplished his project in Autumn of 1940
when the Germans began to fully close down the Warsaw Ghetto
This is how the underground Oneg Shabbat organization was formed (Hebr
The Joy of Sabbath – the meetings were held on Saturdays)
which included several people from various social backgrounds (journalists
students etc) took the challenge of collecting and documenting the life of Jews under the German occupation
Israel Gutman stressed the focus on following changes in the lives of individuals
[12] As Ringelblum himself stressed: Versatility was the main principle of our activity
Each person was working in an assigned area
Certain associates were responsible for documentation and evidence
others – for collecting and editing accounts
Some were following the daily lives of people; creatives contributed their own essays
Emanuel Ringelblum's notes about the Oneg Shabbat group
it used the Jewish Social Self-Help (JSSH)
but also involved in vast unofficial activity
The JSSH offices were located at the Main Judaistic Library
next to the Great Synagogue at Tłomackie street
The building has been the home of the Jewish Historical Institute since 1947; also
the Ringelblum Archive is being stored here
the work of Oneg Shabbat was focussed on collecting materials and documents dedicated to life in the ghetto – official papers
the group began to focus on the research and documentation of the life of the ghetto
and the general situation of the Jewish community in occupied Poland
When the first news about mass murder committed on Jews began to reach Warsaw in early 1942
Oneg Shabbat had reoriented their interests
The group began to document the extermination of Jewish communities and making this knowledge public
The organization remained in contact with the Polish resistance movement (such as the Government Delegation for Poland) and passed copies of collected documentation to them
Oneg Shabbat’s reports on the Holocaust had reached the West
in the Ber Borochov school basement at 68 Nowolipki street
The entire preserved Archive comprises more than 35,000 documents – the last accounts of life
suffering and death of individuals and entire communities of cities and towns all across Poland
They provide a priceless resource for research on the Holocaust
UNESCO included the Ringelblum Archive on the Memory of the World list – the most important documents of the written word
The Ringelblum family managed to&nbsp;avoid being sent to&nbsp;Treblinka during the Great Deportation
13-year old Uri was taken away from the ghetto in&nbsp;the Summer or&nbsp;early Autumn of&nbsp;1942
He&nbsp;remained in&nbsp;hiding for about half a&nbsp;year
staying in&nbsp;Teresa Nowakowa’s flat in&nbsp;Treblinka
The Ringelblums left the ghetto in&nbsp;February 1943 thanks to&nbsp;the help of&nbsp;Barbara Temkin-Bermanowa and Adolf Berman
All three of&nbsp;them found themselves in&nbsp;a&nbsp;bunker called „Krysia” on&nbsp;the back of&nbsp;a&nbsp;house at&nbsp;81&nbsp;Grójecka street
Ringelblum would depart from there to&nbsp;his meetings with friends and associates
he&nbsp;was arrested and transported to&nbsp;the forced labour camp in&nbsp;Trawniki –&nbsp;the Home Army and the Council to&nbsp;Aid Jews managed to&nbsp;rescue him
but later he&nbsp;returned to&nbsp;„Krysia”
he&nbsp;was continuing his scientific work
and documentation of&nbsp;the life of&nbsp;Jews in&nbsp;the occupied Poland; he&nbsp;wrote an&nbsp;extensive essay on&nbsp;the labour camp in&nbsp;Trawniki (it was lost during the war)
an&nbsp;essay on&nbsp;Polish-Jewish relationships during World War II
a&nbsp;study on&nbsp;the tragic fate of&nbsp;the Jewish intelligentsia
and on&nbsp;the Jewish resistance movement (probably unfinished)
He&nbsp;managed to&nbsp;pass these works to&nbsp;his friend Adolf Berman
at&nbsp;that time –&nbsp;the head of&nbsp;the Jewish National Committee
he&nbsp;wrote a&nbsp;document on&nbsp;the culture in&nbsp;the ghettos and the tragedy of&nbsp;the Jewish artists
The document was sent to&nbsp;Pen-Club and to&nbsp;the Institute for Jewish Research in&nbsp;New York
People were suggesting that he&nbsp;could leave the hiding place –&nbsp;due to&nbsp;„aryan appearance”
he&nbsp;had a&nbsp;chance to&nbsp;move around Warsaw freely
He&nbsp;refused –&nbsp;he&nbsp;didn’t want to&nbsp;leave his family and abandon his historian’s work
which would become difficult if&nbsp;he&nbsp;joined the resistance actively
Ringelblum didn’t accept an&nbsp;offer to&nbsp;escape abroad either
The bunker covered an&nbsp;area of&nbsp;28&nbsp;sq.m.
38&nbsp;people remained in&nbsp;hiding there altogether; 34&nbsp;people were staying on&nbsp;the beds (Uri was sleeping head to&nbsp;toe with his parents)
the remaining 4&nbsp;–&nbsp;on&nbsp;additional folded beds
Ringelblum wrote to&nbsp;the Bermans on&nbsp;6&nbsp;January 1944: The food is&nbsp;decent
(…) A&nbsp;possibility of&nbsp;staying outdoors all day is&nbsp;a&nbsp;great advantage which balances the inconvenience
[14]&nbsp; Emanuel’s account was completed by&nbsp;his wife Judyta (Józia): The reality is&nbsp;so&nbsp;much different –&nbsp;arguments
The differences between husband and wife’s words can be&nbsp;probably explained by&nbsp;different obligations
who had spent 8&nbsp;months in&nbsp;the bunker
a&nbsp;quiet middle-aged man sat writing by&nbsp;the light of&nbsp;a&nbsp;carbide lamp
spending hours by&nbsp;the table full of&nbsp;papers and books
(…) Dr&nbsp;Ringelblum was only physically present in&nbsp;the „Krysia” bunker; his thoughts were far away from there
He&nbsp;didn’t take part in&nbsp;the daily life
remaining unmoved in&nbsp;the moments of&nbsp;fear as&nbsp;well as&nbsp;relief
didn’t take part in&nbsp;discussions or&nbsp;arguments
[15]&nbsp; His wife Judyta certainly did –&nbsp;they tok their toll on&nbsp;her physical and mental health
Ringelblum received an&nbsp;offer to&nbsp;replace Berman as&nbsp;the head of&nbsp;the Jewish National Committee
He&nbsp;wrote in&nbsp;one of&nbsp;his letters to&nbsp;the Bermans (3&nbsp;March 1944) that he&nbsp;coulnd not leave due to&nbsp;his wife’s health and his own mental condition (he wrote about himself in&nbsp;the third person): Regarding E.’s condition
He’s going through a&nbsp;deep depression caused by&nbsp;the hopelessness of&nbsp;the situation
Józia strongly opposed the plan to&nbsp;leave
believing that E&nbsp;is&nbsp;unable to&nbsp;take the proposed position in&nbsp;his current condition
The bunker was discovered on&nbsp;7&nbsp;March 1944
Samuel Kassow wrote that Wolski was probably betrayed by&nbsp;his girlfriend when they broke up
The Germans knew who to&nbsp;look for and where
According to&nbsp;Mieczysław Wolski’s mother
the Germans were supposed to&nbsp;yell: You bloody Jewish servant
along with the owner of&nbsp;the house and his nephew
were packed by&nbsp;the Germans into trucks and taken to&nbsp;the Pawiak prison
The greenhouse and the bunker were destroyed with grenades
Samuel Kassow refers to&nbsp;writer Jechiel Hirschaut’s account
accourding to&nbsp;whom there was a&nbsp;plan to&nbsp;rescue Ringelblum
not wanting to&nbsp;leave his wife and son
Ringelblum was tortured by&nbsp;Gestapo who wanted to&nbsp;gain information about the Jewish resistance
During the last meeting between the writer and the historian in&nbsp;the prison cell
Ringelblum was supposed to&nbsp;look at&nbsp;his son Uri and say: What is&nbsp;this kid guilty of
and then he&nbsp;asked Hirschaut: Is it&nbsp;difficult to&nbsp;die
Germans shot all of&nbsp;the „Krysia” inhabitants in&nbsp;the ruins of&nbsp;the ghetto
a&nbsp;resistance activist in&nbsp;the Warsaw Ghetto
wrote that Ringelblum for his whole life had been an&nbsp;optimist who believed in&nbsp;the human being
He&nbsp;was affected by&nbsp;the suffering of&nbsp;others and tried to&nbsp;help them
even if&nbsp;he&nbsp;was in&nbsp;a&nbsp;hopeless situation himself
and his greatest fear is: whether his life’s work
a&nbsp;common achievement of&nbsp;people he&nbsp;lived among
Ringelblum’s will was fulfilled: both parts of&nbsp;the Archive had been unearthed soon after the war and a&nbsp;cry of&nbsp;dying Jewish nation reached the free world
The article is&nbsp;a&nbsp;part of&nbsp;the <a href="https://onegszabat.org/">Oneg Szabat Program</a>
The project is&nbsp;generously supported by&nbsp;the Taube Philantropies
[5] Aleksandra Bańkowska, Buczacz —&nbsp;place of&nbsp;birth of&nbsp;Emanuel Ringelblum,&nbsp;21.11.2013, <a href="http://www.jhi.pl/en/blog/2013%E2%80%9311%E2%80%9321-buczacz-place-of-birth-of-emanuel-ringelblum">http://www.jhi.pl/en/blog/2013–11–21-buczacz-place-of-birth-of-emanuel-ringelblum</a>
Ringelblum’s Contributions to&nbsp;Warsaw History
Emanuel Ringelblum as&nbsp;a&nbsp;Student of&nbsp;History of&nbsp;Warsaw’s Jews
[9] Paweł Fijałkowski,&nbsp;Emanuel Ringelblum as&nbsp;a&nbsp;Student of&nbsp;History of&nbsp;Warsaw’s Jews
Two Meetings with Emanuel Ringelblum,&nbsp;Jewish History Quarterly
Sidenotes Regarding Emanuel and Judyta Ringelblums Letters to&nbsp;Adolf and Basia Berman (25 November 1943 –&nbsp;3&nbsp;March 1944),&nbsp;Jewish History Quarterly
<a href="https://cbj.jhi.pl/documents/818719/0/">Jewish History Quarterly</a>
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It&#8217;s the largest of the 107 fencing projects undertaken by the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative
The late-16th century Buchach Jewish cemetery in western Ukraine has some 2,000 gravestones
BERLIN (<a href="http://jta.org">JTA</a>) — One of Ukraine’s largest Jewish cemeteries has a new protective fence built with German federal funds
based in Germany announced Monday that the fencing of the late-16th century Buchach Cemetery in western Ukraine has been completed
Among the town’s illustrious progeny were Nobel laureate S.Y
Agnon and Austrian Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal
The parents of Sigmund Freud also were born there
the first priority for protection work involves the construction of walls around the boundaries of cemetery sites
including placement of a locking gate within the wall structure and a general cleaning of the site
which was founded in 2015 as an international nonprofit organization,is funded by the German government
It has fenced Jewish cemeteries in seven Central and Eastern European countries
many in the towns and villages whose Jewish residents were murdered en masse during the Holocaust
There were virtually no local Jewish communities left to look out for the sites
Most Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe have been neglected and vandalized over the decades
“[W]e owe our ancestors this mark of respect by ensuring their final resting places are restored and preserved,” said Schapira
called the project “a last minute rescue.”
He said that not only do the fences help secure cemeteries from vandalism
they also remind local non-Jews that “there were significant Jewish communities in these areas and hopefully helps create a sustainable link to a Jewish past across Europe.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century
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Sonora High&#8217;s new principal and he share ties going back 30 years
Sonora Union High School District Superintendent Dr
Mark Miller shares with Clarke Broadcasting that the district trustees at their Tuesday meeting gave him permission to bring on long-time Central Valley principal and educator Lance Morrow
will fill the position vacated by Ben Howell
who assumed new responsibilities as Superintendent at Summerville Elementary School
Miller anticipates Morrow will be making somewhere in the range of Howell’s annual pay
“Lance and I began our teaching careers today back in the early ‘90s at East Union High School
where he was a math teacher and I was a chemistry and physics teacher.” He adds that both were also associated with football and soccer programs
who resigned from his position as principal of Buchach Colony High last month
he respectively held principal positions at Ripon High for eight years and Colonial Heights Elementary for three years
He was an assistant principal from 1999 to 2005
and girls’ soccer coach at East Union High in Manteca
“He was looking for a new gig,” Miller explains
“Lance felt like he had moved Buchach about as far as he could in the three years he was there…came in with some very specific goals around staff development and technology implementation
He felt like he had accomplished what he had taken that job for and…like it was time to try a new challenge.”
While Morrow stated long-term plans for a move to the Mother Lode
Miller maintains it is likely that the new principal will be commuting awhile
as his wife works as a counselor in Modesto with a couple of years to go in that position
who earned his school administration credential
masters in school management and educational leadership and a teaching credential in math from Cal State
also holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from Cal State
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The 12 most threatened heritage sites in Europe shortlisted for the 7 Most Endangered programme 2022 have just been announced by Europa Nostra – the European Voice of Civil Society Committed to Cultural and Natural Heritage – and the European Investment Bank Institute
From a medieval town in the western part of Germany to an exemplary 20th-century garden city in France; from one of the most authentic polder landscapes in Europe
located in Belgium near its border with the Netherlands
to an iconic building that is part of one of the oldest spa resorts in our continent
located in southwest Romania; from the last remaining industrial hub in the Swedish capital to sites of architectural
military and artistic significance in Albania
(Information about these exceptional but endangered heritage sites and the reasons why they were shortlisted are provided below.)
The selection was made on the basis of the outstanding heritage significance and cultural value of each of the sites as well as on the basis of the serious danger that they are facing today
The level of engagement of local communities and the commitment of public and private stakeholders to saving these sites were considered as crucial added values
Another selection criterion was the potential of these sites to act as a catalyst for sustainable development and as a tool for promoting peace and dialogue within their localities and wider regions
The final list of 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe for 2022 will be unveiled in the spring of 2022
stated: “These shortlisted endangered sites are a reminder that our shared heritage is fragile
Europa Nostra expresses its solidarity and support to the local communities and civil society organisations across Europe that are committed to saving these sites
They can count on us and our network of members and partners to raise our voices and act in defence of these 12 heritage sites at risk
These sites tell our shared history and can act as catalysts for sustainable development
social cohesion and intercultural dialogue.”
The Dean of the European Investment Bank Institute
said: “Cultural heritage is a key resource for Europe’s identity
It is about far more than ‘stones and bones’ from the past; today
it contributes to the distinctiveness of Europe in all its dimensions
This is why the EIB Institute is proud to support the 7 Most Endangered Programme
which we have been implementing with Europa Nostra since 2013 with the aim of safeguarding and promoting Europe’s cultural heritage”
The <a href="http://www.7mostendangered.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7 Most Endangered Programme</a> is run by Europa Nostra in partnership with the <a href="http://institute.eib.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Investment Bank Institute</a>. It also has the support of the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/index_en.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creative Europe</a> programme of the European Union
this programme forms part of a civil society campaign to save Europe&#8217;s endangered heritage
prepares independent assessments and proposes recommendations for action
It also provides a grant of €10,000 per listed site to assist in implementing an agreed activity that will contribute to saving the threatened site
the listing of an endangered site serves as a catalyst and incentive for the mobilisation of necessary public or private support
<a title="Collage of shortlisted heritage sites for the 7 Most Endangered programme 2022" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/wgDJ5R" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
(listed in alphabetical order of the country where they are located)
<a title="Zogu Bridge, Albania" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/europanostra/51717293791/in/album-72157720205216737/" data-flickr-embed="true"></a>
<a title="Récollets Convent, Nivelles, Belgium" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/Kbf1R9" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Doel Village and Cultural Landscape, Belgium" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/26qjS3" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Garden City La Butte Rouge, near Paris, France" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/6dVR33" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Historic Centre of Stolberg, Germany" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/jQ38PF" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Neptune Baths, Băile Herculane, Romania" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/039f6T" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Orléans-Borbón Palace, near Cádiz, Spain" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/B82C03" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Synagogue of HíjarChurch of St. Anthony, Híjar, Spain" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/3EoA4C" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Industrial Area of Lövholmen, Stockholm, Sweden" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/europanostra/51718160765/in/album-72157720205216737/" data-flickr-embed="true"></a>
<a title="Crèvecoeur Fortress, Den Bosch, The Netherlands" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/25i3i1" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Sculptural Compositions of Buchach Town Hall, Ukraine" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/4d579p" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
<a title="Sanguszko Palace, Ukraine" class="fancy" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/europanostra/v61L21" data-flickr-embed="true" data-context="true"></a>
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&#8220;This is the chronicle of the city of Buczacz
which I have written in my pain and anguish so that our descendants should know that our city was full of Torah
So begins Shai Agnon&#8217;s epic story cycle entitled A City in Its Fullness &#8211; a literary memorial to the city of his birth
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Agnon&#8217;s receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature (Agnon is the only Hebrew language writer ever to receive the prize)
and in honor of the upcoming Jewish fast of Tisha b’Av
host Marcela Sulak reads from a story in this cycle called &#8220;Pisces.&#8221; It&#8217;s about a householder called Fishl Karp
a portly man who loves food and gets distracted on his way to the synagogue one morning:
&#8220;He met a fisherman with his net coming from the Strypa
He was stooped under the weight of the net
and the net was shaking itself and its bearer
Fishl looked and saw a fish quivering there in the net
When his eyes settled down after seeing the new sight
his soul began to quiver with desire to enjoy a meal made from the fish
So great was his appetite that he didn’t ask how such a stupendous fish had found its way into the waters that do not produce large fish
&#8216;The Leviathan knows that Fishl Karp loves large fish and sent him what he loves.'&#8221;
<a href="http://tlv1.fm/?p=13188" target="_blank">Hear more about Agnon&#8217;s life and work in our previous podcast &#8220;Only Yesterday.&#8221;</a>
Please note that my last name is spelled like the color
is Buczacz pronounced with the accent on the 2nd syllable
The spelling of your name has been corrected
In the Ukrainian pronunciation the stress comes on the first syllable of Buczacz
This was the city of my father and Israel relatives
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by Omer Bartov Image by Courtesy of Simon &#038; Schuster
In researching the Ukrainian town of Buczacz, Omer Bartov wanted to uncover his own family history. But only a few traces of that history remained. What <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Genocide-Death-Called-Buczacz/dp/1451684533">“Anatomy of a Genocide”</a> provides instead is perhaps more valuable: A searing portrait of how the Holocaust worked on the ground for ordinary men and women — onetime neighbors and friends whose disparate fates were determined by ethnicity and chance
The book’s epigraph is a powerful quotation from Nobel laureate Shumel Yosef Agnon’s “The City Whole” (1973)
its narrator closes his eyes “so that I would not see the deaths of my brothers” — but also to imagine the city and its inhabitants as they once were
Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History
as well as his own interviews with survivors and witnesses
collaboration and escape — all the ways in which individuals confronted calamity
Buczacz lies within what Yale University historian Timothy Snyder has called “the bloodlands” — the vast territory in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union where the “Holocaust by bullets” preceded and paralleled the establishment of death camps
of the Jews’ Ukrainian and Polish neighbors
were profoundly anti-Semitic and became indispensable cogs in the Nazi killing machine
The Israeli-born Bartov — whose relatives in Buczacz all died in the Holocaust — remembers asking his mother to share her childhood memories
she had immigrated to Palestine from Buczacz
Bartov traversed three continents and nine countries to learn more of his family’s story
He found only a note about his maternal grandfather’s request to enter Palestine and information on the ship that had transported his mother and her family from Europe
So Bartov turned his focus to illuminating centuries of life in Buczacz
with its “constant interaction between different religious and ethnic communities,” primarily Ukrainians
made the eventual genocide “a communal event both cruel and intimate
filled with gratuitous violence and betrayal as well as flashes of altruism and kindness.”
the town had experienced alternating cycles of peace and internecine violence
as well as the horrors of war and occupation
Eyewitness accounts of 17th century attacks by Cossacks on Jewish communities describe particularly brutal acts
is whether the Holocaust represented the culmination of long-simmering tensions
lifted restrictions on residence and occupation
allowing Jews to become farmers and fostering anti-Semitic tensions in the countryside
Buczacz was “repeatedly conquered and occupied by one side or another
wanton destruction and ferocious violence.” The history
emerges clearly: When Poles and Ukrainians battled
made up a slight majority of the town’s population — tended to be scapegoated by both sides
Interethnic hostilities ran high in the years preceding World War II
and were exacerbated by Soviet occupation early in World War II
“The intimacy of friendships…was now transformed into an intimacy of violence,” Bartov writes
“Anatomy of a Genocide” hits its stride in Bartov’s recounting of the fate of the Jews after the 1941 German takeover
aided by Ukrainian policemen who often knew their victims
One Nazi leader shot Jewish teenagers begging for their lives
while simultaneously holding the hand of his five-year-old son
and served as “background noise to drinking bouts or amorous relationships.” Meanwhile
German civilian families employed Jewish slave labor
making their “tidy German homes…an island of normality floating on an ocean of blood….”
Bartov writes with some sympathy of the dilemmas faced by Jewish leaders trying to meet escalating German demands in the name of community (and self) preservation
Bartov notes how self-serving and distorted they can be; accused killers routinely lied at postwar trials
while some rescuers exaggerated their roles
As both Buczacz’s occupiers and natives turned on the Jews
there were “exceptions to the mayhem and murder.” Relying on the kindness of both friends and strangers
some Jews hid; others fought back; a few children were successfully placed with Christian families
“I am writing you the last letter of my life,” a father
“I have only suffered in the hope that I would perhaps still see you
Some neighbors “made survival possible at enormous risk to themselves,” while others looked away
At times the line between rescue and abuse could blur
We and history must not forget that.” Amidst the unsparing catalogue of atrocities
Julia M. Klein, the Forward’s contributing book critic, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. Follow her on Twitter <a href="https://www.twitter.com/JuliaMKlein">@JuliaMKlein</a>
Julia M. Klein, the Forward’s contributing book critic, has been a two-time finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. Follow her <a href="https://twitter.com/juliamklein">@JuliaMKlein</a>.<a href="https://x.com/juliamklein" target="_blank">@juliamklein</a>
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