The Gallery

Images of Stavisht - the shtetl and its residents. Click on an image to read its caption and to view a larger version shown directly below. Close images by clicking on the right top corner.

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The Eli Lechtzer Family, circa 1915. (L-R, seated) Chana Butzarsky Lechtzer, Raizel (Rose) Lechtzer, Eli Lechtzer, and Golda Lechtzer (standing). Rose was interviewed by the Ellis Island Oral History Project in 1993 and told her story of her memories of Stavisht and her family's immigration to New York. You can listen to her interview from the link on the Stories page of this site. An essay, written by Rose, recalling her life in and escape from Stavisht also can be found on that page.
The Lechtzer-Schilmeister Family, Stavisht, 1910-1911. (L-R) Sisters Devorah Butzarksy Schilmeister and Chana Butzarsky Lechtzer, children Raizel, Golda (?) and Herschel, Eli Lechtzer and daughter Miriam Lechtzer Schilmeister (she married Devorah's son, her first cousin). The families had <q>left Stavisht towards Bila Tserkva when news arrived that a pogram was coming their way. My grandfather Eli went back after Shabbes to see what was left of his property. When people came to get the family to take them out of the Ukraine to start their way to America, Herschel went back to get Eli. He saw a Cossack attempting to rape a Jewish woman and got in the middle. Both were killed.</q> <em>Elka Ginsburg-Caplan, daughter of Rose Lechtzer. Elka submitted all the Lechtzer family photos.</em>
Raizel (Rose) Lechtzer, Stavisht, circa 1917. Raizel is about 7 years old in this photo, wearing her school uniform.
Raizel Lechtzer, circa 1919, standing in front of her house in Stavisht.
Golda Lechtzer, Stavisht. According to her niece Elka Ginsburg-Caplan, <q>Golda was not allowed into the U.S. due to some childhood illness that left her mentally unstable. She was taken back to a home in Berlin and was killed in the Holocaust.</q>
Golda Lechtzer, Stavisht.
Sisters Shiva, Rosa, Piya Caprove (standing) and their sister-in-law Rebecca Cutler Caprove (seated). The sisters are the orphaned grandaughters of Rabbi Meer Caprove of Stavisht. Stavisht, 1911. <em>Photo submitted by Lisa Brahin Weinblatt.</em>
Louis (Levi) Platensky. Louis was a blacksmith in Stavisht. Most likely this photo was taken in the U.S. and those are his daughters beside him, circa 1914. <em>Photo submitted by Paul Schnee.</em>
Philip Simon (Pinchus Shadchan) standing, his wife Jennie Polsky Simon, mother Nechoma Platensky Shadchan (sister to Louis), and son Benjamin Morris Simon, circa 1924-1925. Philip's father and other Shadchan family members ran several businesses in Stavisht. His daughter Clara Simon Mattes, who submitted the photo, writes <q>They had a hardware store that sold everything including wagon wheels and just about anything needed. They also had a business where they would pay someone for the sole use of a small lake. They would then go there with hired help, put huge nets in the lake and take out all the fish, which they would then send (or go) to towns to sell. Another business was purchasing and selling horses. They owned a small house which my grandmother sold when they were leaving Russia.</q> <em>Note: Shadchan is the Hebrew term for <q>matchmaker.</q> Perhaps we have the Shadchan family to thank for our existence!</em>
Rivka, Perl, and Bobl Plotinsky (standing). Their father, Fayvish Plotinsky, was the owner of a heavy hardware store in Stavisht. He succumbed from an infection after being wounded during a pogrom. Stavisht, circa 1914.
Rivka Plotinsky Linderman & son Josl, Stavisht, circa 1912.</em>
The Schechter family (L-R) Jennie Kleiman, Meir Schechter, Arthur Schechter, Rose Pollack, Goldie Epstein, Hanna Schechter, and Esther Yager. <em>Schechter family photos submitted by Jerry Silvers.</em>
(L-R) Yohanna Krakowska, Rose Drasin, Arthur Schechter, and Hanna Shohet Schechter. Arthur Schechter was the initiator behind the <em>Stavisht Yizkor Book</em> encouraging landsman to come together to memorialize their town. He has a number of essays in the Yizkor Book. Arthur was actively involved in the Jewish community of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ben Pollack & Rose Schechter, Chicago, July 1930.
The First Stavishter Ladies Auxiliary, New York, 1947. (L-R, seated): Z. Trachtenberg, E. Lepowsky, C. Atlas; (L-R, standing): C. Moser, G. Kansky, L. Moser, R. Wolf. This photo was taken in celebration of the group's 30th Anniversary. <em>Photo submitted by Clara Simon Mattes.</em>
The family to the right is the Joseph & Toba (nee Sklarsky) Linderman family (seated), their son Motl and daughter-in-law Gitl Seri (standing). The children near the patriarch are, most likely, son Moshe on the left and daughter Sara between the couple, although the existence of a daughter is not confirmed. The families to the left of the Linderman's are not identified, but are thought to be related to Toba Sklarsky Linderman. Circa 1896. Submitted by Vivian Linderman who would welcome any clarification on identities.
Text in upper corner reads, <q>Accurate drawing of the besieged town of Stawischze that was forced to surrender by King of Poland's General Lord Stephan von Czarnez and Tyckoczye Czarnezzky, Governor of Kiev after a quarter year's siege. Made [surrendered] on October 8, 1664.</q>
The Stavisht Torah crown's plaque reads, <q>As a remembrance ladies auxiliary _ Sarah ? from Agudas Achim, the people of Stavisht. Charna, daughter of Yisrael Hoffman, President. David, son of Mr. Aharaon Walles, secretary.</q> <em>Note: Agudat Achim Anshei Stavishche in the Bronx, NY was the spiritual home to Stavisht Rabbi Yitzhak Avraham Gaisinsky after he settled in America. Rabbi Gaisinsky brought the crown with him from Stavisht. Read more about the crown and its journey to America on the Stories page. </em>
Hana Hoffman visited the Stavisht museum and shares a wall of photos. The old village photos which follow are from the museum.
Stavisht home
Men at the Stavisht market
A market scene
A shtetl road
The shtetl cobbler
Shtetl scene
A village scene
Originally a synagogue, this building housed a number of families after they returned to the town following a pogrom and found their homes destroyed. The building still stands today and can be seen from links on the Today page.
The Branicki hospital, date unknown
The Branicki hospital, date unknown
An artist's version of the Branicki estate as photographed by Dan Herverd during a visit to the Stavisht Museum, 2014.
An artist's view of the Branicki estate. Photo by Dan Herverd, 2014.
The Branicki estate on canvas. Photo by Dan Herverd, 2014.