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NAREWKA - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH NAREW!

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In Memory of
Leon Leyson
(Leib Lejzon)
(15 September 1929 - 12 January 2013)

Native of Narewka, moved to Krakow
with his family when he was nine years old.

New: Watch online:
Leon Leyson's 1995 Shoah Foundation testimony,
about his early life in Narewka, his family,
his experiences during the Holocaust and
how he was saved by Oskar Schindler.
Go to the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive Online.
You need to register online and then
search by the Leyson name or interview code 8916.

Obituaries:
Youngest Holocaust Survivor on Schindler's List
Holocaust Survivor remembered as educator
Little Leyson, The Schindler Story

Additional Videos:
Holocaust Survivor Leon Leyson Tells His Story
Leon Leyson: A Child on Schindler's List
Leon Leyson - Schindler's List

A memoir by Leon Leyson, completed before his death,
published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers (August 2013)

"A posthumous Holocaust memoir from the youngest person on Oskar Schindler’s list ...
Leyson's narrative opens with glowing but not falsely idyllic childhood memories
of growing up surrounded by friends and relatives in the Polish village of Narewka
and then the less intimate but still, to him, marvelous city of Krakow."

From "The Children's War: A Guide to Books for Young Readers about World War II ..."
Review of The Boy on the Wooden Box and link to YouTube video with Leon Leyson talking about
Oskar Schindler and his life under the Nazis.

***

In memory of Ida Sarah Schwartz, nee Linevsky,
born in Narewka on 24 March 1919,
died in Teaneck, New Jersey, on 27 January 2013.
Her parents were David Linevsky and Tillie Ain,
whose wedding photograph from Narewka
can be seen on this website.
They emigrated to New York in 1920.
Ida was named after her grandmother, Chaya Sara Ain.
(Thanks to William Schwartz, son of Ida.)

***

In Memory of Moshe Birenbaum
(13 November 1918, Narewka - 24 February 2011)

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In memory of Libby (Luba) Bagan Rubin,
born in Narewka in 1915 and
died in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on 14 August 2011.
In 1920 she immigrated to Chicago with her parents,
Mollie (Malka, née Linkowski) and Samuel (Simcha) Bagan.
See her obituary in timesoffreepress.com.

***

Zvika
Birenbaum at sign at synagogue site in
Narewka

Invitation
to unveiling of commemorative synagogue
plaque

Zvika Birenbaum, principal of the Adar School
in Zichron Yaacov, Israel, standing before the
newly erected marker commemorating the site of the
destroyed synagogue in Narewka, December 2018.

Invitation to the ceremony held 28 February 2019 to unveil
the commemorative plaque to honor and remember
the destroyed synagogue in Narewka and its Jewish community,
planned by the primary school, mayor and community in Narewka
and the Adar School and Birenbaum Family from Israel.

Joy Kestenbaum at memorial to the Jewish victims at the
site of the mass grave in Zabłotczyzna, taken after riding bicycles
with Kasia and Aniela Bielawska from the Jewish cemetery
in Narewka, during her visit to Narewka in August 2018.

Joy Kestenbaum taking a walk in Narewka on 4 August 2018
during her second trip to Narewka, having first visited the town
of her grandfather's birth in August of 2010.

Paulah,
Kris and Kasia at Bojarski Gościniec in
Narewka

Aniela Bielawska and Joy Kestenbaum at Jewish cemetery in Narewka,
after locating gravestone of Bella Shapiro
with Kasia Bielawska, 4 August 2018.

Paulah Weremiuk, Krzysztof Myśko
and Kasia Bielawska at Bojarski Gościniec
in Narewka, 3 August 2018

Paulah, Joy and Kasia at Bojarski
Gościniec in Narewka

Joy Kestenbaum at Jewish Cemetery in Narewka, 3 August 2018,
visiting with Paulah Weremiuk and Krzysztof Mysko.

Paulah Weremiuk, Joy Kestenbaum and Kasia Bielawska
at Bojarski Gościniec in Narewka, 3 August 2018

On route from Bialystok to Narewka on 3 August 2018,
Joy Kestenbaum with Paulah Weremiuk and Krzysztof Myśko.

Joy Kestenbaum meeting Adi and Zvika Birenbaum in New York City
in July 2018, discussing our past and future trips to Narewka.

Second cousins Ephraim Epstein and Barbara Kotin meeting
for the first time at Ben's Deli in New York City in June 2018.
Their grandfathers, respectively, Yaacov and Moshe Shapiro,
were brothers. Ephraim, born in Narewka, made aliyah
to Mandate Palestine with his parents and older brother.
Barbara's parents emigrated to Brooklyn, where Barbara was born.

Second cousins Barbara Kotin, nee Shapiro, and Ephraim Epstein,
along with his wife Rhonda and Joy Kestenbaum meeting at
Ben's Deli in June 2018. Barbara's father Sol Shapiro and
Ephraim's mother Devora Shapiro were first cousins.

Edelman
Reunion in Jerusalem February 2017

Edelman Family Reunion, Jerusalem, February 2017, descendants of
Gedalia Edelman, Julius Edelman and Teme Leia Rathaus, nee Edelman:
Back left: Shai and Galia Gilad, daughter Adi, Tamar Leah Maytal, Alec Gilad, Ron and Lisa Lavin, Eric Lavin, Avital Miriam and her father Joseph Schonwald
Bottom row: Neriya Gottstein and his mother Tamara Edell-Gottstein, Rolinda Schonwald, Yair Gurfinkle and his wife Ricki and their son Moshe.
Click on photo for enlarged image.

Barbara Kotin, David Barton and Joy Kestenbaum reunion
at the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant in New York City, 1 June 2017,
having met there exactly five years ago. Barbara, whose parents were both from
Narewka, visited there two years ago, in June 2015; David, whose father
came from Narewka, visited in 2009; and Joy, whose grandfather
was from Narewka, visited in August 2010.

Barbara, Ken and Joy at Ukrainian
East Village Restaurant.

Ken Altman in Narewka, the birthplace of his father, in June 2016.
He spent a few hours there, while participating in the
Eastern Europe Roots and Rebirth trip to Lithuania
and Poland, organized by YIVO and the Forward.

Barbara Kotin, Ken Altman and Joy Kestenbaum meeting
at the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant in New York, August 2016, to talk
about Ken's recent trip to Lithuania and Poland and his visit to Narewka.
Ken visited in June 2016, Barbara in June 2015, and Joy in August 2010.

Barbara Kotin at Holocaust memorial
in Zablotczyna.

Ken
and Barbara looking at photographs from
Narewka.

Barbara Kotin at the memorial to the Jewish victims of Narewka
at the site of the mass grave in Zabłotczyzna (June 2015), where several of her maternal and paternal family members were murdered.

Ken Altman and Barbara Kotin looking at photographs from Narewka in
New York (August 2016). Ken recently visited in June; Barbara went last year.

Tamara with Katarzyna, Victor and
Blanka in Narewka

Tamara Edell-Gottstein at the Narewka Public Library/Narewka Municipal Cultural Center in August 2015 with Blanka, Victor and Katarzyna
(Kasia) Bielawska, reviewing information on Tamara's Edelman family.

Tamara Edell-Gottstein and Blanka visiting Narewka in August 2015. The family of Tamara's great-grandmother Teme Leia Edelman, after whom Tamara was named, was from Narewka.

Israel Birenbaum and his family at the gravestone of his
great-grandfather Yehuda Aydel in Narewka in July 2015.

Israel Birenbaum and his family at the memorial at the site of the
mass grave where the Jews of Narewka were murdered.

Barbara Kotin in Narewka, the birthplace of her parents, in June 2015.

Israel Birenbaum visiting Narewka, the birthplace of his father, with his wife Shlomit, his sons Omer and Orel and his daughter Shachar, the weekend of 24-26 July 2015.
It was Israel's third visit to Narewka and his family's first.

Barbara at the gravestone of her
grandmother Bella

Barbara Kotin at the gravestone of her grandmother Bella Shapiro,
for whom she was named, during her June 2015 visit to Narewka.

Gravestone of Yaacov Dov Edelman, taken in August 2015 by Tamara Edell Gottstein, during her recent visit to Narewka. Yaacov Dov was a brother of her great-grandmother Teme Leia, after whom Tamara was named.

Inscriptions
of destroyed Jewish communities in
Bialystok region from Valley of the
Communities at Yad Vashem

Second
cousins (once removed) meeting
in Jerusalem

Barbara,
Rivka and Joy meeting at Cafe
Mogador

David Ziants and Joy Kestenbaum (second cousins once removed), meeting for the first time in Jerusalem during the 35th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, July 2015.

Photo of inscriptions of the destroyed Jewish communities in the Bialystok region taken during Joy Kestenbaum's visit to Valley of the Communities, Yad Vashem, during 35th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, July 2015. Narewka is the third from the bottom. © 2015 Joy Kestenbaum

Barbara Kotin, Rivka Witenberg and Joy Kestenbaum meeting for lunch at Cafe Mogador in New York City, May 2015. Barbara was planning her first trip to Narewka; her parents and Rivka's father were from Narewka, the birthplace of Joy's grandfather. Rivka was visiting from Australia.

Lauren Shulsky Orenstein, Joy Kestenbaum and
David Rosen in Boston at the 33rd IAJGS International Conference
on Jewish Genealogy, August 2013. Lauren's great-grandfather, Joy's grandfather and David's father were from Narewka.

Ken Altman, Joy Kestenbaum, Barbara Kotin and Rivka Witenberg at luncheon gathering at the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant in New York, November 2013. Ken's father, Barbara's parents, Rivka's father were from Narewka.

Netta Kaplan with her mother Asnat, sister Avivi and brother Tal with Aniela and Katarzyna (Kasia) Bielawska at Bojarski Gościniec in Narewka, August 2013. Netta's paternal grandparents were from Narewka.

Zvika and Israel Birenbaum at the gravestone of their great-grandfather in the Jewish cemetery (Kirkut) during their May 2011 visit to Narewka; Israel couldn't find it when he had been there ten years earlier with his father Moshe, who was born in Narewka and died only two months before Zvika's and Israel's visit. On this trip Zvika brought Israeli students from the high school where he is the principal.
He returned with students in April 2013.

Chris and Kasia at Narewka Jewish
cemetery

Krzysztof (Chris) Malczewski and Katarzyna (Kasia) Bielawska
at the Jewish cemetery (Kirkut), taken by Joy Kestenbaum
during her trip to Narewka in August 2010.

Joy Kestenbaum at memorial to the Jewish victims from Narewka at the site of the mass grave in Zabłotczyzna, taken during her visit to Narewka in August 2010. Among those murdered on 15 August 1941 by a German police battalion
were her grandfather's siblings and their families.

Krzysztof (Chris) Malczewski, Katarzyna (Kasia) Bielawska
and friend at the Narewka Public Library/Narewka Municipal Cultural Center, taken by Joy Kestenbaum during her trip to Narewka in August 2010.

Joy Kestenbaum in Narewka in August 2010 standing with local resident
on Mickiewicza Street, formerly Pruzhanskaia, the street
where her ancestors and grandfather's family had lived.

David Barton at memorial to the
Jewish victims of the Nazis in Narewka

David Barton during his 2009 visit to Narewka, the birthplace
of his father and home to his ancestors. Click on image
to see film by Tomasz Wisniewski of David's visit.

David Barton at the memorial to the Jewish victims of the Nazis
from Narewka, the site of the mass grave in Zabłotczyzna,
taken during his 2009 visit to Narewka.