printed from "The becks in siberia" becksinsiberia.com

Cover

Narrative

	Early Years: To 1939
	Outbreak of War: 1939
	In the Russian Zone: 1939-1940
	In the Taiga: 1940-1941
	Bodaybo: 1941 - 1943
	The Way Back: 1944-1945
	An Adventure:1945
	Semipalatinsk:1945-1946
	Repatriation: 1946
	Germany: 1946-1951
	Notes
	Notes 2

Trip to Siberia 2008

Readers´ Comments

Cover

Narrative

Notes

Notes

Yiddish name for Lezajsk. In the Jewish world, a town famed for the grave of Rabbi Elimelech Weisblum, an important theoretician of Hasidism.Before the Holocaust, every year thousands of pilgrims came to pray at his grave on his yarzeit. Often Yiddish names for shtetls are different than the Polish or Ukrainian place-names.

Second Polish Republic

From Wikidepia: The Second Polish Republic, refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state.
Officially known as the Republic of Poland, the Polish state was created in 1918 in the aftermath of World War I. It continued to exist until 1939, despite bot

From Wikipedia:The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down operations in 19

From Wikipedia: A chevra kadisha (Aramaic:"holy society") is a loosely structured organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Halacha (Jewish law) and are protected from desecration until burial. Two of the main requirements are the showing of proper respect for

An Aramaic poem in praise of God, said in synagogue on the Shavu’ot holiday.The lines Tsivye refers to are:

If the skies turned into parchment,
And all forests into quills…
If oceans and lakes were ink,
And all men scholars and scribes…
It would still be impossible to describe
The glory of the Master of heaven and ea

Total annihilation

While there was a rhetoric of genocide from the very beginning of the Nazi movement, and anti-semitic outrages were committed from 1933, the year the Nazis took power in Germany, a plan systematically to exterminate the Jewish people was drawn up only towards the end of 1941, after Germany conquered western Russia. The Nazi murders of Jews between 1939 and 1941 were haphazard, and were motivated more by the desire to induce terror, and awe of the German Superman.

Sofkhozes, kolkhozes

Under Communism, a sofkhoz was a state-owned farm which was run as an industrial enterprise, while a kolkhoz was a farming collective, something like a kibbutz.

Yiddish for small village.

Kaiser Franz Joseph

Last, and longest-reigning (r. 1848 - 1916) Austrian Emperor; pursued a policy of tolerance towards Jews.

Ashkenazi pronunciation for “Shabbat” (Hebrew), Sabbath.

A benediction over wine which sanctifies the Sabbath day.

Daven,(davened, davening)

To daven is to pray. This is a Yiddish word of obscure etymology; maybe from Old French, with its sense similar to the English word “devotion”.

A prayer room in Yiddish; also can refer to a larger synagogue; from the Old High German for school – “scuola”.

Galician Jews were evacuated across the Carpathians, in order to protect them from pogroms by invading Russian armies. It is ironic that during the First World War Austrians were protectors of Jews, while in the Second World War they were murderers of Jews. Human nature is malleable. Also, note that Jews felt loyalty to Aust

A Hebrew word which means number, or quorum. In Judaism, ten men constitute a quorum for public prayer. Thus “to make or have a minyan” means to get a group together to pray, not necessarily in a synagogue.

Shabbos / Yom Tov Tchum

Sabbath (Shabbos) and the holidays (Yom Tov) are days of rest; one rests by staying at home. Home is considered the settled area where one lives; hiking too far beyond the settled area is forbidden. The rabbis determined that the distance one may walk beyond settlement is 2000 cubits, about a kilometer. Tchum (Hebrew) means

Pessach. Passover

You will see throughout the narrative how my parents marked time by the Jewish calendar – by reference to Sabbaths, holidays and Jewish months. The common, secular calendar was not as firm in their minds as the traditional, religious one.

The Jewish year is lunar, of 354 days, and thus a thirteenth month must be intercalated every few years to even it out with the solar year, of 365 days. A month is added on after the twelfth month, Adar, and for this reason is called Adar Bet, or Adar B. Passover falls in the first month of the year, in Nissan. Thus, followi

From Wikipedia: Józef Klemens Piłsudski was a Polish statesman—Chief of State (1918–22), "First Marshal" (from 1920), and authoritarian leader (1926–35) of the Second Polish Republic. From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland's politics, and was an important figure on the European political scene. He is considered

Melammed, melamdim (p.)

Man or men who teach religious subjects to small children. More often than not, in the shtetl, lessons were given in the home of the melammed; typically the teachers were very poor.

This is the Hebrew word for room, which was adopted by Yiddish with the meaning, a study room for small children. This was the primary school of the shtetl.

Gemarah, Rashi and Tosefot

Gemarah is synonymous with “Talmud”, a compilation of rabbinic discussions of Jewish law and legend from the first half of the First Millennium CE. Rashi and Tosefot are medieval commentaries on the Gemarah, part of the standard curriculum of Gemarah- study.

The Book of Psalms.

The reference is to the numerus clauses (Latin), a quota system in which the admission of specific ethnic groups to academic institutions was limited to a percentage of total enrollments.

From Wikipedia: Kristallnacht (literally "crystal night" or the "night of the broken glass") was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on November 9–10, 1938. Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and villages, as SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed buildings w

Galician Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew word Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Begins Elul 15 and lasts for 7 days in the Land of Israel, for 8 days outside of Israel. The first and last days of the holiday have stricter laws, and greater holiness, than the Intermediate Days.

The Jewish New Year’s holiday, lasting two days, Elul 1 and 2. Elul is the sixth month of the Jewish year, roughly equivalent to September.

The ram’s horn which is ritually blown on Rosh Hashanah.

Tallis, plural Talaysim

Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew tallit and talitot, prayer shawl(s).

This is a fast-day usually held directly after the Second Day of Rosh Hashanah, unless it falls on a Sabbath, in which case it is postponed to Sunday, since fasting isn’t permitted on Sabbath.Gedaliah was a Jewish leader assassinated shortly after the destruction of the First Temple, in the Sixth Century BCE; his assassination

Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew slichot. These are special penitential prayers usually said at night or before morning prayers in the period around the High Holidays, i.e. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

A Yiddish word related to English “close”, when it is used to designate an enclosed area besides a church or monastery.The kloyz functioned both as a small study hall and as a place of prayer, and served as an alternative to the main synagogue of the shtetl.Often it was in proximity with the synagogue.

Every synagogue contains scrolls of parchment on which the Pentateuch is written. These scrolls are considered sacred, and it is a mitsva, almost like saving life, to rescue them in the event they are threatened with destruction.

A soft bread-loaf eaten on Sabbath and holidays.

Phylacteries.

The Day of Atonement, on Elul 10. A day of fasting.

A market square typically found in the center of Polish villages and cities. Related to the English word rink.

Goy, plural goyim

Gentile.

Galician Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew Shavu’ot, Pentecost. The holiday is celebrated seven weeks after Passover, roughly in late May. Isru Chag Shveeus is the day after the holiday.

Poalei Zionists

The Zionist movement had various sub-groups. One of them was Poalei Zion, “Workers of Zion”, who were of strong socialist orientation. The irony is that the Communists should have welcomed socialist fellow travelers with open arms, but instead arrested them. Any political movement not under full direction of Moscow was forbid

It is interesting that Yiddish has the same word as English gyp (from gypsy, ultimately from Egyptian, i.e. an exotic foreigner). In English, gyp has a negative connotation, to swindle, while in Yiddish it seems to be more neutral, to trade.

“Exit of Shabbos”, i.e. Saturday night. Mechel and Asher were arrested June 29, 1940.

Blessed the new month

The new month is always announced in synagogue the Sabbath before it is to begin; a prayer asking for health and prosperity in the coming month is recited.

Tammuz is the fourth month of the Jewish year.The names of the months in the Jewish calendar are of Babylonian origin.

Among followers of the Hassidic way of life, it is the custom to wear round, fur-lined hats on Sabbath and holidays. Mechel hasn’t had the chance to change out of his Sabbath finery. The shtreiml is thought to resemble a hat worn by Polish and Russian nobility in the Eighteenth Century, when Hassidism was created. At that tim

Typical Sabbath stew.

Evergreen forests that lie in a band across Siberia, north of the Asian steppes and south of the tundra.

The Ninth of Av. Av is the fifth month of the Jewish year. Tisha B’Av is a fast-day commemorating the destruction of the Second Temple in 70CE. Tisha B’Av fell on August 13, 1940.

This is the fundamental Jewish prayer: “Hear Israel, the Lord is your God, the Lord is one.” This is the first prayer a Jewish child is taught; it is a motto, a rallying cry, a pledge of allegiance. A Jew gains merit if he says this prayer at the moment of his death.

A holiday whose name means “Rejoicing over the Torah”. The Torah is of course the Hebrew Bible. It is divided into fifty-odd chapters, which are read in succession on Sabbaths in the course of the year. Simchas Torah marks the end of the old and the beginning of the new cycle. It is celebrated at the end of Sukkot (Feast of

Galician Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew Sheh-hechiyanu, which is the name of a thanksgiving benediction that is recited to mark special events. One thanks God, “…Who gave me life, and maintained me, and brought me to this moment.” The blessing is said on momentous personal occasions, such as at one’s wedding, or child’s

Valenki are traditional Russian winter footwear, essentially felt boots: the name valenok literally means "made by felting". Valenki are a kind of traditional Russian footwear which is usually worn for walking on dry snow when the weather is frosty. Prototype boots were the traditional felt boots worn by nomads of the Great Steppe (including Southern Rus'), whose history counts more than 1,5 thousand years. Valenki are associated with a traditional rustic style of clothing; in cities they are usually worn by little kids, or by all in a severe frost, when other shoes don’t rescue from the cold.

Russian for a lock-up.

Jewish tradition instructs people in mortal danger to confess their sins; in this way they ensure themselves a place in the afterlife.

A Yiddish word which derives from German kugel, which means ball. In Yiddish the word refers to a baked casserole or pudding.

Talmid Chuchum.

Äshkenazi pronunciation of Talmid Chacham, literally a wise student, that is, an accomplished Torah scholar.

A Jewish court of law, which can adjudicate both civil and religious matters.

Festive meal eaten on the first evening of Passover in Israel, and on the first two evenings of Passover outside of Israel.

Leaven; during Passover, it is forbidden to eat or even to own bread that has leavened.

A religious commandment. It also carries the sense of good deed, which brings merit upon the doer.

Władysław Sikorski

From Wikipedia: Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski was a Polish military and political leader.Prior to World War I, he established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independence. He fought with distinction in the Polish Legions during World War I, and later in the newly created Pol

The Sikorski–Mayski Treaty of July 30, 1941. The army unit that was eventually raised was called Ander’s Army, after its commander, Władysław Anders. The unit comprised about 40000 soldiers, with 70000 attached dependents. It crossed from Russian Central Asia into Iran, and then was placed under the umbrella of the British mi

Russian for boss, chief.

A Jew may eat meat only if the animal has been slaughtered according to the instructions of Jewish law. Permitted meat is kosher, forbidden is treif (literally, carrion). Tsivye is being ironic. The rabbinic literature discussing the issues of kosher and treif is both vast and subtle, but in extreme circumstances rules are gr

The waiting station for ferries. Voda is water, voksaal is a Russian borrowing from German wachsaal, waiting hall.

This is a selection of chapters from the Book of Psalms, which is added to morning prayers on holidays.

Judaism is concerned with states of purity and impurity.Purification is achieved by immersion in a pool of water, the mikveh.Thus, after a woman has menstruated she must “go to the mikveh” before she may engage in sexual intercourse.New tableware must undergo immersion in a mikveh before it may be used..Although it is

A mystical passage from the Talmud (Yoma 85b). God is likened to a mikveh; because Israel cleaves to God, it metaphorically immerses itself in the Divinity and thereby becomes pure. With the recitation of this passage, the souls of the dead are commended to God.

Especially made clothes

These are called tachrichim.From Wikipedia: The traditional clothing for burying the dead are tahrihim, simple white shrouds. Their use dates back to Rabbi Simeon ben Gamliel II, who, in the second century CE, asked to be buried in inexpensive linen garments. According to the Talmud, Rabban Gamliel observed that the custom of

A simple white robe in which Jewish males are buried.In some communities it is also worn on certain holidays.

Skullcap, derived from Polish word of the same meaning. In Hebrew it is called a kippah.

Committee of American Jews

Mechel is referring to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, known as the "Joint".The Joint is one of the unsung heroes of this episode of Jewish survival.When it became known that there were Jews trapped in Siberia, the Joint compiled lists of names and strove to help, including the sending of aid packages. Text

Committee of American Jews

Talon, pl talonen

Coupon in Russian. During rationing, it was necessary to present a coupon in order to have the right to purchase goods.

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