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Goniadz Yizkor Book Summary This Yizkor (Memorial) Book for the Jewish Community of Goniadz, in Poland is over 500 pages long. It contains information on the town's institutions, organizations, buildings, and families as recounted by survivors and prewar emigrants in addition to first-hand reports ofsurvivors of the massacre and of Jews who joined the partisans, family histories of extended families of the town and all the photographs and illustrations from the original Yizkor Book. Jews may have been living in Goniadz as early as 1597 when the town was granted the right to have Jews settle there. Goniadz became a lively trading center for lumber and grains, horses and cattle. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were about 2,600 Jews or about 67% of the population. The Jewish Goniadz was very lively and interesting. The small Jewish population was very active, established many parties and clubs and gave to the world outstanding intellectuals in many fields, both Jewish and general. This vibrant small Jewish community was best known for an intellectual and social culture which included creating the first Hebrew public school in Poland and an active Zionist community. By the end of the First World War only 1,135 Jews or about 43% of the population still resided in Goniadz. This Memorial-Book portrays to a great extent the many-sided life of Goniadz before its destruction, as told by pre-war emigrants. Several people who survived the holocaust have given us a heartrending description of the horrors and destruction they witnessed. Their stories, and those of the efforts of those fortunate enough to escape, are presented in this volume. Today there are many descendants of Goniadz living around the world and several have contributed to create this translation. ""Let this Goniadz memorial book be a living memorialto the annihilated-lost splendor of the past - for us and for our children, for eternity."" (Fishl Yitzhaki, page 806) Goniadz, Poland is located at 53°29' North Latitude, 22°45' East Longitude and is 17 miles SE of Grajewo, 29 miles NW of Bialystok, 46 miles WSW of Grodno. Alternate names for the town are: Goniadz [Pol], Goniondzh [Yiddish], Gonyendz [Russian], Gonyadz, Gonyandz, Gonyondz, Gonyondzh, Goniondz Nearby Jewish Communities: Trzcianne 11 miles SSW Knyszyn 13 miles SSE Jasionówka 14 miles ESE Korycin 15 miles E Radzilów 16 miles WSW Suchowola 16 miles ENE Grajewo 17 miles NW Rajgród 17 miles N Wasosz 18 miles W Szczuczyn 19 miles WNW Tykocin 20 miles S Janów Sokolski 20 miles E Sztabin 20 miles NE Jedwabne 23 miles SW Zawady 23 miles S Wizna 25 miles SW Choroszcz 25 miles SSE Stawiski 26 miles WSW Augustów 27 miles NNE Wasilków 27 miles SE Dabrowa Bialostocka 28 miles ENE Elk 29 miles NW Bialystok 29 miles SE Sidra 29 miles ENE Rutki 30 miles SSW

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9781939561404

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Moshe Shlomo Ben-Meir, Editor By his son, Nakhum Ben-Meir Moshe Shlomo Ben-Meir, (Idel Treszczanski, changed to Idel Treshansky upon entering the United States), was born on October 26, 1895, in Goniondz (Bialystok District), Poland. At a very early age, he was recognized as a prodigy, who memorized the Old Testament and was able to quote passages in full from random prompts (a ""parlor game"" he used to play with his students). He was playing in major chess tournaments in Eastern Europe before the age of ten. At the time of his death, he was fluent in 13 languages. He received his higher education in Warsaw, but it is likely that he never obtained the kinds of formal degrees that would be recognized outside of Eastern Europe, a condition which limited his ability to advance professionally within the education community in later years. After World War I, he emigrated to Belgium (Antwerp), where he found work as a diamond cutter and teacher in the Jewish Community. He met his wife, Chana, in Belgium, and they married in 1929. Their first child, Frieda, was born in 1930. Very early during his time in Belgium, he became a member of the Zionist movement, and his writing and oratorical skills led to his becoming a leading figure in that organization. With the rise of Fascism, the Zionist Labor Organization in Antwerp felt the need to provide him with protection, as its intellectual leaders became targets of Nazi attacks. His wife remembers she always had bodyguards, along with two well-trained Belgian Shepherd police dogs. She lamented greatly having had to leave them behind when they left Belgium. As Nazism grew during the 1930's, it was apparent that it was no longer safe for him and his family in Belgium. Thus, in 1939, barely ahead of the invaders, he fled South, through France and Spain, to Lisbon, where some of his wife's North American family were able to secure boat passage for the family out of Europe. They landed in Montreal, Canada in 1940, and, with the help of those same family members, entered the United States (New York) in September, 1943. Their second child, Nahum, was born later that year. Moshe initially was unable to find work in the educational field in the U.S. because of his lack of credentials, so he again found employment as a diamond cutter and polisher, and taught private Goniadz Yizkor Book xv lessons in Hebrew. But his enormous writing talents and interests in Zionism soon found him writing essays and poetry regularly for Ha'Doar, a major publication of the time. He also commenced working on one of his favorite projects: the reintroduction of Hebrew as a modern language, and spent many years translating the works of the great Yiddish writers (Sholem Aleichem, Mendele Mocher Sforim, etc.) into Hebrew. He very soon was in the midst of the Hebrew and Yiddish intellectual circles of New York. In the late 1940's, despite his lack of credentials, he was finally able to secure a teaching position at Yeshiva University in New York, where he taught Hebrew, Bible and Literature. He retained that position until his death, on January 18, 1959, of heart failure. His heart condition had, sadly, prevented him from taking an offered Full Professorship at the University in Jerusalem, because of concerns about the altitude. His most important work, a book of poems entitled ""Tzlil Vatzel"" (Sound and Shadow), was published shortly after his death, and earned much praise and prizes within Hebrew language circles. Wife, Chana, preceded him in death, in August, 1957. Daughter Frieda died in 1996. He passed away while indulging in his favorite hobby: kibitzing a chess match between masters at a Manhattan chess club.

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