Landsmannschaften and Burials
Many eastern Europeans after arriving in the United States, and
other countries, formed community associations or landsmannschaften (Yiddish) with other
"landsmen" who were now beginning a new life in a new land.
These associations were often extensions of those that existed in their
hometowns. The groups helped new immigrants navigate the complexities
of the new world while providing a foundation of old and new friends
from back home. Along with hosting meetings and social activities, the
associations also raised money for landsmen in need and to send back to
those remaining in the country of origin. Many also encouraged their
members to write down their remembrances and then published memorial
books to their towns and the residents killed during the Russian
Revolution or Holocaust. These books, known as Yizkor Books, can be
found in libraries throughout the world. The Stavisht Yizkor
Book has been translated, from the Hebrew and Yiddish, and can be
read, in English, online at JewishGen.
In New York
City, Stavishters organized a landsmannschaft named the First
Stavishter Benevolent Association. As was the protocol of most
landsmannschaften, the Association purchased plots of land within local
cemeteries to be used for members' burial needs. The New York
cemeteries, both located on Long Island, were Beth Moses and Old
Montefiore.1 A list of surnames found within these plots has
been posted online through the Cemetery Project at the online Museum of Family History. These individuals' names, along with
additional headstone information, are included in the Stavisht Resident
Database accessed from the People page of
this website. Another Stavishter section has been identified in the
Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey. Are there others? Would you
like to volunteer to collect headstone information?
In Boston, the United Brothers of Stavisht became involved in their
Jewish community. The Ladies Auxiliary of this organization is listed
as a life member on a donor plaque, dedicated in January 1953,
supporting Boston's Jewish Memorial Hospital.2 It is
believed Stavishters had similar landsmanschaft organizations in
Philadelphia and, possibly, Buffalo, and Chicago. If you have
information about these other organizations or would like to research
their existence, please contact the webmaster so the information may be
included here.
On the outskirts of Stavisht, on the road to Zhashkov in the
village of Roskoshnaya, there is a Jewish cemetery that continues to
be used. There are up to 100 marked gravesites. Three marble
monuments stand erect over the site where the Nazis had Jewish
residents dig their own mass graves before being shot and thrown in.
In 2016, the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's
Heritage Abroad program erected a wall around the cemetery and
cleaned up the burial grounds. A rededication of the cemetery occured
on August 11, 2016 and was attended by the mayor, a Kyev rabbi, and
members of the Postrel family including Richard Weisberg, who was a
commission member at the time and helped spearhead the project. The
ceremony was covered by the local press with a full page article. You may watch the
ceremony through the links shown below. We must all give a thousand
thanks to the very generous Postrel family members who contributed
the necessary funds for the cemetery improvements and
rededication.3
Prior to the walling and rededication ceremony, the status of the
cemetery was described in a 1996 survey by The International
Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies through its
International Jewish Cemetery Project. The project report detailed the location and status of the
cemetery at the time.
Photos of many of the legible headstones have been uploaded to the
Mitzvat Emet website for the Roskoshnaya
Stavishchenskiy Rayon area. The monuments for those who perished
by the hands of the Nazis are shown below. The inscriptions read as
follows:
First Monument Image
- Hebrew Text
- Memorial Matzevah (Monument) Here lie the holy martyrs who were
murdered by the fascist murderers for the sanctification of G-d’s
name. In the month of Tishrei the year 5701 in the town of
Stavishe. G-d our Lord, remember them for goodness and avenge the
spilling of the blood of your servants.
- Russian Text
- Think, a man! These unhappy people haven't seen the Victory.
Nazis and their collaborators cruelly stopped the lives of 150
soviet citizens - the Jews - old, young, women and children. They
are your mother, sisters, daughters, grandchildren. Think on their
sufferings and you would feel the depth of their struggle for your
bright, happy life. Don't suffer, but hate the Nazi and swear that
never such victims will happen again. Keep the memory of the
martyrs alive in your children. NOT TO FORGET - IT IS THEIR
TESTAMENT
Second Monument Image
- Upper Plate
- Here lie the remains of 50 (or 30?) Jewish Soviet citizens.
Men, older people and children brutally murdered by German fascists
and their policemen. September 8, 1941 Stavische
- Lower Plate
- People be aware! This should not happen again. Let’s not forget
nor forgive the fascist murderers and their policemen.
