"I made a trip to Russia in 1994, and took a side trip to Belarus,
specifically to visit Motol, Chomsk and Bereza. The Belarus authorities
would only give me a 3 day visa which wasn't enough time to research
anything. I took a train from Moscow to Minsk. Spent what amounted to a
half day and overnight in Minsk. Day 2 my driver took me down to Brest,
which is the closest city to the shtetels. It was a long drive, but I
did get to see Bereza which is much larger than Motol or Chomsk.
Bereza is where the official
records are for that area. (In fact my mother and her family did also
live in Bereza for more than several years. She was born in Chomsk but
the family moved to Bereza when she was 8 years old.)
Day 3 is when my driver and I set
out to find the two shtetls. The roads are almost non-existent - only
muddy paths with major pot-holes. The only road signs we found were (a)
"Khomsk" which was outside the town, and (b) "Motol"
which was also outside the town. Otherwise there are no signs to tell a
traveler where they are or where they are going.
When I visited the two towns of
Chomsk and Motol, it was quite obvious that Motol is a more well-to-do
town than Chomsk. The homes
are in good condition, larger and more neat appearing than those in
Chomsk. The Motol
collective may be more prosperous because it deals with cows while the
Chomsk collective handles pigs. In
my parents’ time, there must have been close connections between the
two towns because Chomsk was a center where rabbis would come together
for meetings and discussions. My
great-great grandfather had a large home in Chomsk and would host
visiting rabbis. The towns
are on the same direct road, only 5 miles apart.
Day 4 I had to leave Belarus, which
I did by train to Warsaw." |
