1. Sloboda Synagogue
2. Liadi Synagogue
3. Lubavitz Synagogue
4. Strasheli Synagogue
5. Large Beit Midrash
6. Place for Chuppas
7. Pharmacy
8. Rabbi's residence of Chabad
Chassidim
9. Residence of the map illustrator
10. Pharmacy
11. Residence of the Rabbi of the
Mitnagdim
12. Fire Station
13. Auditorium
14. Hotel
15. Pharmacy
16. Municipality and Police
Building
17. Pravoslav Church
18. Municipal school
19. Post office
20. Catholic church
21. Government Appointed Rabbi
22. Pravoslav Church
23. Water Pumping Station
24. Flour Mill
25. Saw Mill
26. First Zionist Cub
Other Information:" a very powerful, moving and personal description
of the murders in Dokshitz and Parafianov... "
For a very powerful, moving and personal
description of the murders in Dokshitz and Parafianov by a Nazi German soldier (Rudolf) and its effect on him and
his son, see the book Legacy of Silence by Dr. Dan Bar-On, Chapter
9(pages 200-216), published by the Harvard University Press, 1989.This chapter
exemplifies the legacy of the killings and tragedy on not only the victims but
also on the perpetrator and their children. As one reader said: "Elements
are searing and I shall never forget them as long as Ilive." Another
reader reported that she was put into a daze after reading the chapter.
"It brings tears my eyes every time I think about it" reports another
reader. These response were reported by Kehilalinks readers, and were not
obtained from the book cover!) For anyone with connections to Dokshitz and
Parafianov, this is required reading!
Specific names of Jewish victims (who were
friends of the German soldier) appearing are Aaron Katz (and his family),
Maria, Dolla (cook for the rail crew), the pharmacist Belzik and his daughter
Rita (a teacher) and also Lilli (a piano teacher).
Other towns mentioned where murders took
place are Glubokoe, Vileika, Budslav, and Krulevshchyzna.
List of People or Researchers with an Interest in Dokshitz
Please enter your family names and your
name on the JewishGenFamily
Finder (JGFF) for Dokshitz. You can find
other reserachers below by searching JFGG.
Searchable Databases
JewishGen FamilyFinder
Would you like to connect
with others researching Dokshitz? Click the button to search the JewishGen
Family Finder database.
·
View the Pages of Testamony from Yad Vashem (First
opened in November 2004) New December 4, 2004
You can search by name using the "Basic Search" button
and use "Dokshitz" as the town name
·
Check the Cemetery Database
Travel to
Dokshitz
From:
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001
Subject: Travel to Dokshitz
I was in Dokshitz a few years ago. There is no hotel--as you
will see the town is extrememly modest and probably nevers gets visitors except
for the occasional Jewish genealogist like us over the past several years.
There is a hotel, the Berezina, in the city of Borisov. But that is far enough
away (40 minute to an hour drive) that you might be best off staying in one of
the better hotels in Minsk. The ones I recall are the Planeta and the
Yubilnayay, but I think now there are some better ones run by a German or
Swedish company. As I recall, the Belarussian government makes you have your
hotel reservations made and prepaid before they let you into the country. I had
to show my hotel reservation was prepaid before I could get my visa. Call or
Fax Belintourist, the official Belarussian travel agency. There was a woman
named Galina working in their Minsk office who was helpful. She can set up the
hotel reservation for you and also arrange to get you a driver to take you to
Dokshitz.
Eric Goldstein
Other Connections:
It was natural that emigrants from the one shtetl or region would tend to
follow each other from those same shtetls and settle together; so that in the
first generation of immigration on ecould find that relatives from Europe would
tend to settle together in the same towns. This led to some small towns with
Jews from the same towns or regions in Europe. In one such case, we know that
many from Dokshitz settled at least in the following communities:
- Sheboygan,
Wisconsin
- Newport, Rho de
Island
- New Haven,
Connecticut
- Waterbury,
Connecticut
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Cleveland, Ohio
As we identify other such town, we will list them.
........
On June 10, 1999, the following interesting email was
received:
Hundreds of Dokshitz descendants
settled in and around Memphis, TN; St. Louis, MO; and New Haven, CT. I
know. My wife is descended from the New Haven group.
Key names involved were: KABAKOFF,
HUTKIN, FRIEDMAN, KRAMER, and PORTNOW--although the last one is unclear because
the only examples I have were females who married Kabakoff and Rubinchik (later
changed to Rubin), and there are multiple variations of their maiden names,
including Portnik and Portman, on at least a dozen records, although most are
some form of Portnow, and all, with two exceptions, begin with
"Port-".
The primary Memphis-St. Louis clan
is descended by 6 Kabakoff siblings (4 males, 2 females--married to Hutkin and
Friedman, respectively). The New Haven clan is descended from one Hershel
Kabakoff of Dokshitz, whom we believe to be a seventh sibling to Memphis-St.
Louis clan (at minimum, a first cousin--we have conflicting data). One of
Hershel's sons also settled in St. Louis. Immigration of the above-referenced
Dokshitzians ran from approximately 1880 through 1923.
Brian Neil Burg
----------------
From:
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999
... My family (Kusnitz) settled in Waterbury, Ct,
which should be added to the known places on the page. There were also Shapiro
and Luria families there, all from Dokshitsy and all related. Other Kusnitz
relatives settled in Cleveland, OH.
Zelda Kusnitz
---------------
From: "Boris"
Subject: RE: FW: KUSINITZ from
Dokshitz
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001
Hi,
My aunt,Sonia Gitlin was married
Lev(Leib)Kusinits.He died in aprox.1976 and is buried in Borisov, Minsk region.
Their daughter Alla lives in Borisov now. Leib father and brother and sister
lived in Borisov as well.Sister emigrated
to Israel (lives near Kinneret
lake). Brother (Lusik) died a while ago in Borisov. I guess,this Kusinits must
have relationship to Dokshitsi,because all my family members are from Dokshitsi
(granny,maiden name Kominkovich,and grandpa,Gitlin, is from Begoml,small shtetl
near Dokshitsi)
If you need details,let me know. I'll call my dad
and granny for information.They are still in Borisov,dad is 76 and granny is
99.
Boris Gitlin, Toronto.
Other Current News about Dokshitz:
On the Weekend of May 30, 1999, Sam
Gejdenson, son of Shlomo Gejdenson (born in Parafianovo - just outside of
Dokshitz) returned to Dokshitz-Parifianovo for a visit with two families who
hid his father during the war and saved him. Sam is a United States Congressman
from Connecticut.
... ........................
Later
this summer two others will be traveling there:
Phil
Alloy is traveling as part of a University
of Toledo [Ohio] research grant on the Jewish partisan resistance movement
against the Nazis in Lithuania and Belarus. He is searching for anyone with
direct information on the subject. [Persons involved with the Jewish partisans
or who had contact with them]. Any help you may have on this subject would be
appreciated. He will be in Belarus early in August and will visit Dokschitzy
during that time.
................................
David and Karen Nathan write:
I thought
it would be worthwhile writing to you about our imminent trip to visit
Dokshitsy.
My wife's grandfather is
Dov (Boris) Katzovich, one of the authors of the Yizkor book and a former
partisan from Dokshitsy (along with his wife Doris Shapira, a partisan from
Postavy). He is alive and well in Petach Tikva, Israel, and has given us some information
in preparation for our trip. He and his late wife were back there in 1990.
We will spend two days in
the area, and we would very much appreciate any information you can give us
about present day Dokshitsy or the surrounding towns of Glubokoye, Postavy or
Kobylniki. For example, where should we go, and with whom should we meet? Are
there any Jews left there? Friendly Christians? Names, addresses and phone
numbers would be most helpful.
We will be leaving next
week (about June 23, 1999), so we look forward to hearing from you as soon as
possible.
Thank you very much,
David and Karen Nathan
On
June 15, 1999, Aviva Neeman wrote from Tel Aviv about the Dokshitz Memorial Day
that she attended:
Aviva is has done tremendous
work for the Dokshitz Kehilalinks Page by locating the group of Dokshitzers
responsible for writing the Yizkor book and obtaining their permission for us
to place it on the web; she is our main contact in Israel. Her
great-great-grandfather was a Rabbi of Dokshitz and immigrated to Israel over
100 years ago.
Joel:
It was a very moving ceremony
yesterday. In the last few years, they found it too far and too tiring to go to
the cemetery and had their memorial in a public hall. But because this year
they had collected money and repaired the memorial stone, they had the ceremony
on site. I guess that we have something to do with it: for the first time in
many years they have what to report.
Yechezkeel Levitan had a Chazan
there, they said Kadish, he honored me by letting me light the first candle.
The people all wanted to shake my hand, a sk again how I am a Dokshitzer. They
were all there: all the Dokshitzers alive and one or two of the younger
generation: widow, son and a little granddaughter of the one who started the
book. Also son of Yacov Kramer of Dokshitz, Eitan Kremer, from Jerusalem. After
they lit the candle he told them about the Internet site. Your name was
mentioned many times. Then he let me talk. I read them your message of
greetings from the Sheboygan Doskhitzers, and the message from Brian (Neil
Burg) about Dokshitzers and where they are. I told
them that as they know there is the Internet site, what it has and how now,
thanks to their generosity in allowing us to put the whole book on the web, the
rest of the book is being translated to English from Yiddish. I told them that
their book is now very much in demand. I said that we are starting to think of
re-printing the book in English which will give the American Dokshitzers the
book, if they'll allow it - (chorus: "you may, you may") and
Yechzkeel said: "you have our permission." I asked for it to
be in writing and he beamed "you'll have it". I told that
about Sam Gejdenson's trip to Dokshitz and Parafianov and the Parafianov stone.
In the
end Yechezkeel mentioned the Dokshitzers who passed away since last meeting.
I brought
a camera and Eitan kept taking pictures and made a list of all present. I also
asked for memories, how life was in Dokshitz, and all the short stories they
knew.
&
nbsp;
It was a very moving
ceremony. At the end I asked how do I get to Tel Aviv ad a man said "if
you take me, I'll show you". He got to the car and directed me,
avoiding my question of where he needs to get off in Tel Aviv. So, I had a nice
talk with Mr. Henkin, till we came to the Tel Aviv-Holon intersection, and I
said that from there I know the way. That's when he asked me to stop, and said
he'll take the bus back to Holon. he was not from Tel Aviv at all. He was
local, and just took me to show me the way. Isn't that wonderful?
Aviva
David
and Karen Nathan wrote on Wed, 28 Jul 1999
: We have returned from Dokshitsy (and Miadel,
Glubokoye and Postavy) after a three-week trek through Eastern Europe, and I am
happy to report on our experiences there.
We drove from Glubokoye,
although for three nights we lived with a wonderful family in Dunilovich. Upon
arrival we looked for the memorial to the Jews, which was actually not hard to
find although we drove past it on a main road several times. The area is in
excellent condition, although the grazing calf tethered to a tree on the site
seemed a bit inappropriate. We ate a late lunch at the restaurant on a corner
of the main square by Ulitsa Dolginov, located in a fairly nice building that
sits on the former site of our great-grandmother's dentist office (Mina
Katzovich, nee Rubenstein). This place is not bad by Belarussian standards and
very inexpensive by American standards.
The big stop we made wa s
at the home of Nikolai Chistakov, well-known to both our grandfather Dov
(Boris) Katzovich and Phil Alloy. He has been in touch with both. He was happy
that I offered to publish his address and telephone number, as he likes visitors:
Nikolai
Dmitrivich Chistakov
Ul.
Polyevogo #3
Dokshitsy
211720
Vitebskaya Oblast
Republic
of Belarus
Tel:
21643 (you would need to know how to dial to Dokshitsy and Belarus, and you
need someone to speak Belarussian/Russian with Nikolai)
Nikolai is a very sweet
retired electrical engineer who has made a hobby of documenting the history of
Dokshitsy, with a strong emphasis on the large pre-war Jewish community. He was
happy to show his many documents, newspaper clippings, notes and photographs
(mostly low-resolution photocopies). He has saved business cards, letters and
other momentos of Jews who have visited over the years, and his efforts are
worth our support. Dov Katzovich recommended that visitors should give Nicolai
at least a few dollars, as his wife and he live quite modestly. Their house is
a real treat. It is very rustic, although better built than many in town. We
spent quite a bit of time visiting with them. Nikolai told us that there is
nothing left of the synagogue site, so we didn't bother trying to find it (as
we had planned).
If we could do anything
differently, we would have visited Nikolai as soon as we got to Dokshitsy, as
he could have saved us a lot of t ime looking for various sites.
Please write with any
questions...
-David Nathan
In a
later messages David wrote:
Nikolai Chistakov most
definitely has material on the Jews of Dokshitz, including proclamations from
the town made after the war, statistics he seemed to informally compile,
newspaper clippings, etc. To get the material most efficiently write to him in
Belarussian or Russian (he has a relative in Minsk who can translate from
English, but it takes a while), send him some money for photocopying (and
something extra for his time), and tell him the kind of information you're
interested in. Specify that you want to focus on the Jewish history of
Dokshitsy, because his focus is on the whole town, not just its Jews.
I believe
that Nikolai said that there is one elderly Jew living in Dokshitsy today. He
stayed there because he married a Christian woman.
See Photos
below by Phillip Alloy from his
1995 trip
Date:
Sat, 17 Mar 2001
Subject:
Dokshitz
From:
Aaron Ginsburg
Dear
Joel,
1.Thanks
for your help. I am very close to finding the descendents of some
'lost
relatives' that survived the holocaust. This is in addition to the 80
new
relatives I have located from the e-mail last November for my Memphis
branch of
the Kusinitz family.
2.I
wonder if you would consider sending the following e-mail to the
Dokshitz
group. I am also going to post it to the Belarus SIG newsletter. I
will make
sure you get a copy of any responses.
I have
just learned that there was a Dokshitz Society in New York that had
lots in
the Dokshitz section of Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, NY. I have
also
learned that a group of Dokshitzers settled on and near Union St in the
East New
York section of Brooklyn NY. If you know anything about Dokshitz
Society,
or about the group in East New York, please let me know.
Thank you
Aaron
Ginsburg
researching
Kusinitz, Ginsburg from Dokshitz; Pokross from Gorodische,
Cherkassy
district, Ukraine.
3. I
wonder if you would consider posting the following message on the
Dokshitz
page:
A
Kusinitz family reunion is being planned in Newport, RI on Sunday August
26,
2001. For information please contact Aaron Ginsburg
Thanks,
Aaron
Ginsburg
781-784-3245
(NEW)
Yechezkeel Levitan
in Dokshitz - June 1997
Yechezkeel Levitan
standing in Dokshitz cemetery with a few headstones in the background.
Memorial service held by the Israeli Dokshitzers (
June 1997 ) at the memorial stone , built at the pit where the Dokshitz and
Parafianov Jews were murdered .
Luba Kosovski - Breslav reads her speech about
Dokshitz . She read it in Russian . Behind stands (in blue hat) Moshe
Shpigelman who read Tehilim chapters . Next to him (with a yarmulke) is
Dov Rozov (who said Yizkor ); next to him is Yechezkeel Levitan in a
yellow hat (El Maleh Rachamim) . Next to him is Itzchak Yassin (now in
Canada) his son in law (bearded) and his wife (seen from the back) .
Photos
supplied by Yechezkeel Levitan
(NEW)
Testimony from Trials by the Russian
Government of the Nazi Murderers and their Belorussian Accomplices
Mass shooting of innocent old people, women, children, burning them alive
and enslaving Soviet citizens in Germany was conducted under the order of
German authorities by officers, soldiers of the Nazi troops, c.q. :
1. Ebeling, Deputy Gobietscommisor
2. Kaz, Comandant of "Ghetto"
3. Benz, Head of Parfianovo station of Belostok
Rail Roads
4. Claus, Captain, Oriscommandant of the town of
Dokshitsky;
5. Ungerman, Administrative officer, etc.
6. Gartman, Administrative officer, etc.
These people committed atrocities unseen in the
history of mankind
Below are excerpts from eye witnesses evidences:
1. Kramer, Shaya Kusclevich, born 1909, resident of the town of Parfianovo
2. Levitan, Gendel Aronovich, born 1925, resident of the town of Parfianovo
testified:
On May 30, 1942 Nazi gendarmery has come from the city of Glubokoe to
Parfianovo railway station. Early in the morning led by deputy Gebietcommisar
Ebeling, gendarmery herded the Jews liv ing in Parfianovo into
"Ghetto". Men, old men, women and little children were put all
together in the building of the club-house, remodeled for accommodating POW.
After that, instructed by Gebietcommissar Ebeling and commandant Benz, Nazi
gendarmes started to take people out in small groups of five. Every one was
stripped naked and beaten up by rubber clubs and butts. When I (Levitan) was
taken outside, I saw puddles of blood and was also beaten up by a rubber club
until I lost consciousness. Continuing the atrocities in the club-house, all
Jews were drawn up, including old people and children, and were led to the
shooting site, on the territory of Parfianovo station. On the site where mass
shooting was supposed to take place, a hole had already been dug out.
Gendarmery forced people to come up to the hole and machine gun shooting began.
People started to scatter around the place. After herding people up again, Nazi
beat several old people, women and children with rubber clubs and pushed them
in to the hole alive. Seeing such atrocities with my own eyes, I rushed for
safety. When the machine gun opened fire, I pretended to be shot dead and fell
into the ditch and stayed there up until night fell. I could see all the
atrocities on that day. A lot of old people, women and children were shot. In
July 1942, Nazi gendarmes caught 2 Jews. Their names were:
1. Levitan, Shlyoma
2. Gilbert, Rubin
They were beaten up with rubber clubs, stripped to
the underwear and hanged on the telegraph poles along the road from Parfianovo
to the village of Veren'ki.
Most active in shootings were Ebeling, Benz, Giko, Foreman of the Parfianovo
station, as well as many others, whose names I don't know.
3. Kuchko Zahariy Yakovlevich, born 1880, resident of the village of Osovo
of the Yankovsky region testified:
In January 1943 instructed by Nazi commandant gendarmes and soldiers came to
the village of Osovo, burnt down houses, arrested villagers. They also burnt
alive the Kovels family: Peter, Elena Mikhailovna and Semyon, their son born
1936. All in all, five people were burnt in that house. After that, there were
mass shootings. Twelve villagers were shot with rifles and Tommy guns. I saw
the bodies. Another eye-witness of shootings was Vasily Aldorovich
Parliyanovich, resident of the village of Osovo. He saw the Zan'ko's family
shooting. They were beaten by butts, Nazis wanted to take Maxim Zanko to the
city of Dokshitsy and shoot him there but he refused to go anywhere and was
shot outside of his house in the village of Osovo. Maxim's mother popped out of
the house crying " You shot my son, shoot me". The entire Zanko's
family was shot right on the street..
4. Andrievsky Viktor Mikhailovich, born 1894 , resident of the villageof
Maslovichi of the Porplischensky region.
5. Voitehovich Bellya Gippolitovna, resident of the village of Telshi of
Porplishcensky region. Two eye witnesses testified:
Living two hundred meters away from the Dokshitsy-Glubokoe road, we saw with
our own eyes in July 1943 the Nazi herding Russian POW's along that road. Every
POW, who could not march further, as they were all exhausted, was shot. So over
three days of July Nazi shot 11 POW. We don't know their names, as there were
no ID's with the bodies.
5. Anoshkovich Vasily Ivanovich, born 1880, resident of the village of
Vorgany of the Brabuchensky region testified:
In may 1942 Nazi detachment came to our village and herded for hard labor in
Germany the following citizens:
1. Vargan Semyon Antonovich
2.Vargan Elena Semyonova
3. Zhilyonok Yakim Ivanovich
4. Apanashkevich Ivan Ivanovich
5. Apanashkevich Nikolai Konstantinovich
6. Vargan Igantiy Ivanovich
7. Kahanovich Ivan A lexandrovich
8. Voitehoivh Pavlina Andreevna
9. Shitel Alexander Konstantinovich
10. Vargan Konstantine Nikolaevich
11. Kahanovich Maria Ivanovna
12. Malinovskaya Emilia Stanisslavovna, etc.
SS Detachment encircled our village, herded villagers to the
central place in our village, selected above citizens and forced them to go for
hard (slave) labor in Germany.
7. Stadolink Polikarp Ivanovich, born 1891, resident of the village of
Makarevichi of the Grabuchensky district, testified:
Nazi detachment came to our village on February 15, 1944 and shot my wife on
the street (Stadolnik Maria Emundovna) next to the barn and shot my son
(Stadolnik Boleslav Polikarovich), born 1927 who was in bed ill. Also, in our
village were shot:
1. Dolchenok Petr Ivanovich;
2. Gritsevich Iosif Marianovich;
3. Skurat Stefanida;
4. Polyanina alexander Vasilievich.
All villagers were herded onto the central square and the above people were
shot before the eyes of all people. I also was there and saw the shooting. The
Nazis did not allow us to bury them. Our villagers could bury them only 10 days
after the shooting, when the Nazi moved out of our village.
8. Sivko Ivan Frolovich, born 1898, resident in the village of Gnezdilovo of
Gnezdilovsky district testified:
In October 1943 a group of Nazi of approximately 85 people came to the
village of Gnezdilovo and put it on fire. The Nazi burnt many people alive in
their own houses.:
1. Kolyago Vasily Stepanovich
2. Kolyago Anton Ivanovich both tried to escaoe through the window but were
shot. The Nazi also burnt a little girl Kovel Elena, born 1943.
In addition, Nazi shot three imprisoned soldiers of the Red Army at a
distance of approximately one kilometer from th e village of Gnezdilovo was
caught by Nazi and was shot on the cemetery of the village of Yuzhnoc
Gvazdilovo.
9. Kurilyonok Anna Petrovna, born 1922, resident of the village of Ryzhovka
of Porplischensky district:
10. Pashkevich Adelya Ignatievna, born 1916 resident in the village of
Degtiary of Porplischensky
11. Stepanets Semyon Mikhailovich, born 1916, resident in the village of
Sloboda of Porplischensky district.
All the threee testified: we live not far from the road to the village of
Sitsy, next to the forest . We saw Soviet men, women, and children being
herded, as well as Italian POW's, walking along the road from Parfianovo to
Dyatki. The column was stopped and turned left, i.e. to the road to the village
of Sitsy. Soon after that we could hear gun ( machine -gun) fire. Soviet
citizens and Italian POW's were shot. Same shooting recurred more than once
over two days. IN the first day after the the arrival of the Red Army in our
district.I went to the forest and saw 5 big holes camoflauged with green turf
and green tree branches. On one of the trees under the bark I found a note,
which read in Russian "We were executed by Nazi butcher: Russians-600
person, Italians- 200 persons. Take vengeance Nazi butchers for our blood, for
women and children shot by Nazi."
12. Ozenblovsky Andrei Ivanovich, born 1909 resident of the city of
Dokshitsy testified:
In March 1942 under the instruction of Glubokoe Gebietcommissar, there were
started arrests of Jews living on the territory of the city of Dokshitsy. The
Jews were herded in "Ghetto" and mass shootings of women with babies,
old and young people began. I saw it with my own eyes. Jews in groups of
100-150 people were led to the hole, which was dug next to the Jewish cemetery
in the city of Dokshitsy, they were forced to undress and the shot. Babies and
little children were not shot, rather they were stabbed with bayonets or thrown
alive down into the hole. One could hear moans of the wounded and cries of
children. Over three weeks of mass shootings the Nazi killed about three
thousand Jews. On the same day, Nazi execute almost 100 of active Soviet
workers.
In addition to mass shootings, Nazi shot daily 1-2 unknown people in the
vicinity of Dokshitsy brewery. Rumors go that there are about three hundred
people were shot. Also, Nazi herded many residents of Dokshitsy to Germany for
slave labor.
13. Podberesskin Mikhail Filippovich, born 1880, resident of the village of
Rechnye of the Nesterovsky District, testified:
In February 1943 I saw the following residents of out village killed:
1. Anikovich E.T.
2. Pet'ko E.I.
3. Shul'gat S.T.
4. Gnyran M.S.
5. Podberesskiy S.F.
6. Podberessky V.T.
7. Vasilevich M.A. and some others.
In total 23 residents of the village of Rechnye were killed, 10 of them were
burnt
1. Kazachyonok T.D. with his family
2. Kazachyonok wife
3. Kazachyonok 7 year old daughter
4. Kazachyonok daughter, born 1942
5. Kazachyonok daughter, born 1943
Material supplied by Sam Gejdenson
(7/14/99)
Photos by Phillip Alloy
1995
Phillip
writes that "these four pictures are from my 1995 journey to Dokshitzy. [
Now having returned in August 1999 I note that] nothing has changed since my
visit four years ago. The "Monument' that has been erected by another
group is located somewhere else in Dokshitzy and according to Nikolai, is
dedicated to the town's "liberators,' not the martyred Jewish
citizens."
Jewish
cemetery in Dokshitzy. All 'stones' pictured are gravestones. None stand
upright, as all have been toppled. About 10% of the gravestones can be read
although many are face down or partially buried. Note grazing goat in the upper
left corner of the photo. [c] 1999 Phillip Alloy
Entrance
to the Jewish cemetery. This entrance is across the road from the Partisan
Monument, site of the mass murders of the Jews. [c] 1999 Phillip Alloy
One of
the very few readable gravestones. This broken marker is laying on the ground
and is typical of the remaining gravestones. [c] 1999 Phillip Alloy
Aviva Neeman, a fifth generation Israeli, whose great-great
Grandfather was a Rabbi in Dokshitz, was asked to document any information she
had on Dokshitz. Here is her response:
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004
From: Aviva Neeman
Well, story number 1 is
that my ancestors were rabbis of Dokshitz generation after generation. The
reason for that is that Dokshitz had a lot of Mithnagdim, followers of the
Vilna Gaon, whose official name (which nobody used) was Rabbi Eliahu Kremer.
So, there was Rabbi Pinchas Kremer, son of Rabbi Moshe Kremer, the Vilna Gaon's
youngest brother. Rabbi Moshe was known as "Rabbi Moshe of
Podjeloveh", and mentioned under this name in books. Podjeloveh is the
name in Yiddish of Pod Zelva, in Lithuania. Maybe Rabbi Moshe was in Dokshitz
in his old age - I am not sure of that. What I am sure of is that Rabbi
Pinchas, son of Rabbi Moshe, was rabbi of Dokshitz. After Rabbi Pinchas
Kremer's death, the Dokshitzers elected his son Rabbi Eliahu Kremer for rabbi
of Dokshitz, of course Dokshitzers were proud of their rabbi being the Gaon's
close family.
Story #2:
Rabbi Eliahu's wife, Beileh, was sister of Menachem Mendel Porush, who was the
trusted disciple of the Vilna Gaon. The Vilna Gaon entrusted Rabbi Menachem
Mendel with the important task of moving his descipals and their families from
Lithuania to Eretz Israel. Indeed, they came and landed in Acco (Acre in
northern Israel) from 1807 to 1830's. They settled in Tzfat and later, after
the "Big Quake," the earthquake that occurred on Friday, January 1st
of 1837 they moved to Jerusalem.
The Big
Quake rocked the whole Galilee, ruined most of the Upper Galilee, caused the
Kineret (Sea of Galilee) to flood Tiberias (Tveria) and took many lives. Loss
of life was very high since it occurred late Friday afternoon just before the
start of Shabat, when all men were in synagogues. The synagogue buildings
crumbled and fell on top of the each other. This was because Tzfat is built on
the slope of Mount Canaan.
So, after
the earthquake of 1837 they all moved to Jerusalem and started the Ashkenazi
Yishuv of Jerusalem.
So, when Rabbi Pinchas
died in Dokshitz, his son Rabbi Alleh (that's Yiddish for Eliahu) was elected
Rabbi of Dokshitz,of course Alleh was named for the pride of the family, the
Vilna Gaon. The stories in the family about Rabbi Eliahu Kremer (Alleh) were
that he was a young man when he came to Eretz Israel. I am not quite sure of
that and am not sure if Beileh was his first wife because when he came to
Jerusalem he left grown-up sons in Europe and arrived only with his youngest
daughter Mir'l. In Jerusalem he had another son, Menachem Mendel Kremer.
Another story of Rabbi Eliahu Kremer is that he was very rich and sensitive. He
insisted on using tableware of silver and sleeping on silk bed sheets.
On the other hand, Rabbi
Eliahu was very liberal: he insisted on teaching his daughter. This is
remarkable - in Jerusalem girls were only taught basic reading so they can read
their Sidur and pray, and basic arithematic so they can work and provide for
the family when their husbands learned Torah. Not Rabbi Eliahu - he taught his
daughter exactly as he taught his sons: language, Tora and Gemorah, and
arithematic. He said he was doing this so "she can marry a great Rabbi,
like his close Yeshiva friend, Rabbi Eliahu Neuman". So Mirel admired
Rabbi Yaacov Tzvi (Hirsch) Neumann from her early childhood. Eliahu died when
Mirel (her full name was Sheineh Mirel) was a girl.
Story #3: There is a
story, started by Mirel, that when she lived in Dokshitz as a young girl, there
were many gypsies near Dokshitz. Since they used to steal, Mirel was ordered by
her mother Beileh never to allow a gypsy in the house. One freezing morning,
when Mirel was alone at home in Dokshitz, an old gypsy woman knocked on the
door, begging for bread. Mirel, against her instructions, pitied her and let
her in, and served her a warm soup and bread. The grateful gypsy wanted to
reward Mirel so she read her future. She predicted that she'll live in a far-away
country, and she would marry two old men. Well, soon the first prophecy was
fulfilled: Rabbi Eliahu took his wife and daughter and moved to Jerusalem where
he settled in the Old City. Of course, then it was not called the "Old
City because there was no "new city." After his death many wanted to
marry the beautiful and clever girl, but she refused them all. After Rabbi
Hirsch Neumann's wife Leah died, she said she'll only marry him. He had no
children since Leah couldn't give him children,of course Beileh, her mother,
refused because by then he was an old man, and she was a young girl. He
himself, as her trustee by her father's will, refused and tried to arrange
suitable marriages for her. However, she was very stubborn and refused them
all, so in the end she got her wish and married Rabbi Yaacov Tzvi Neumann. She
bore him children, one after the other, but they all died. There is a story
that he sent her to Vienna to his brother Dr. Karl Neumann, who was Kaiser
Franz Josef's physician. The story says that Mirel had met the Kaiser before,
in Jerusalem when he visited, and he saw that the building of the Churveh
synagogue in the Old City was not finished and had no roof. He asked for the
reason, and there was a hush, and then Mirel said, in German that "the
synagogue has taken off its hat for the Kaiser." The Kaiser who always
had an eye for a beautiful woman, roared wth laughter and understood the
reason, and before he left Jerusalem he left the Jews enough money to finish
the synagogue. Still the name "Churveh" stuck with the synagogue.
Somehow, in books, this story is attributed to Rabbi Nisan Beck, but the family
story is that it was Mirel who received the money from the emperor.
Story #4: Anyhow, when my
great grandfather sent Mirel to Vienna to his brother, Mirel took a walk one
Friday morning in the city park. The Kaiser too had the habit of walking in the
park, so when he saw Mirel he stopped, and they had a long serious talk. So
long in fact, that Mirel never returned home for lunch. So long, that when it
was nearly time to light Shabat candles, Mirel was still missing and the family
was worried. Then just before Shabat the Kaiser's carriage drew to the
physician's home. Knowing the carriage, Karl rushed out thinking he is needed
in court, when the carriage door opened and out stepped the Kaiser, and then
Mirel. The Kaiser thanked Mirel for the day, bid the family Shabat Shalom and
drove off.
I was told once that
someone of the family doubted the story so he looked in old newspapers and
found the story recorded.
Story #5: Now Mirel
married Rabbi Hirsch Neumann and lost many pregnancies, but in the end, she had
two daughters (one died at the age 5) and one son, Moshe and one son, Moshe
Eliahu Neumann, my grandfather. After her husband's death she married his
friend, and her other trustee, Rabbi Meyer Maizel, and with him she had another
girl. So the gypsy's prophecy came true.
Mirel was known to be beautiful,
quick, with a retort ready for any question, knowledgeable so that when women
came to ask the Rabbi questions, she was the one who replied. She was known as
"Rebitzin of the Old City" and admired by all. She died in 1935 and
each girl born in the family in the years after got the name Miriam, after
Mirl. When I was born, my father's family insisted I be named for Miriam, after
Mir'l. My mother thought Aviva was appropriate to a girl born in Pessaich, so
they all settled for Aviva Miriam. But I had cousins like Miriam, Mickie,
Merry, Mimmie and Mirie. All of course named for Mirel, my great grandmother.
If I think of other
stories of Mirel, I'll write.
Wait - there is the
story, again started by Mirel, or at least we know it because Mirel used to
tell it to my father and grandfather: the story is that when a Neumann (or
Neeman) dies, a dog is howling. It was like that in the Old City, that a dog
howled when my great grandfather died. But Mirel who had lost many children,
claimed the story was true. I heard it many times from my great-aunt who heard
it from her mother Mirel, and from my father. I remember when my grandfather
died, I accompanied my father when he went to issue a burial permit. A German
Shepherd dog was sitting on the opposite pavement. My father looked at it and
repeated the story, which I heard many times. I remember remarking that it is
very quiet, and we entered the building. Just as we mounted the first step, the
dog pulled back his head and howled like a wolf. I swear I froze on the spot,
but my father nudged me, whispered "I told you so" and mounted the
stairs. A dog, or maybe the same one howled when my uncle Matitiahu died, and -
I swear - when my father died. I was sitting at home, after the funeral, when I
heard the howling. My uncle Itzchak claims it is nonsense but I can vouch that
I heard it THREE times at deaths of my grandfather, my uncle and my father.
Aviva
Neeman
On May 30, 2004, a meeting and memorial service for the Victims of
the Shoah in Dokshitz and
Parafianov took place in Tel
Aviv.
Photos
appear below.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5: Aviva Neeman
Photo 6
Photo 7
Photo 8
Photo 9
Photo 10
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Photo 15
Photo 16