DOLHINOV NEWSLETTER/ NUMBER65,
Circulation 87
Edited by Barry Rubin
Dear Dolhinovers:
I have been so busy writing my book about Dolhinov that I have neglected you so please let me send you a brief letter. First, IÕm amazed at how much I have found about the history of the town and been able to reconstruct. Sometimes these are brief mentions in books published in languages including Lithuanian, Swedish, and Latin. So let me give you a brief and quick sample of some of the things covered in the book.
First, though, let me tell you an important piece of news which has come about thanks to a number of people on this list and also to the Minskshtetl organization. There is a plan to name a street in Dolghinov after Kisilev, approved by the Belarus government. It has to meet final approval but the prospects look good. Several of us are now working on recognition for Ivan Timchuk, KisilevÕs commander who was responsible for the rescue. After the war, Timchuk became a high-ranking official in Belarus.
We are looking for his children and also on a plan to have him made a Righteous Gentile. Mor on this story as it develops.
Now for some Dolhinov tidbits:
--The first mention of Dolhinov (so far) is in a Lithuanian document of the 1650s about the nobleman in Vilna responsible for trading with the town.
--In 1708, the Swedish armyÕs reinforcement and supply force marched through Dolhinov on its invasion of Russia. There they were met by a message from King Charles XII urging them to hurry up as he desperately needed help. They didnÕt move fast enough. East of Dolhinov, the Russians practically wiped them out.
--Around 1740, the Dolhinov Jews hired Chaim Segal to paint the inside of the wooden synagogue. Although no pictures of that work have been found I include a couple from the synagogue he did in Mogilev just before (see below). By the way, a long time later, a young boy saw the work of Segal in Mogilev, decided he wanted to be an artist, and copied the style. His name was Segal also. But you know him better as Marc Chagall, possibly the greatest Jewish painter in history.
--On December 26, 1812—exactly 156 years ago--Napoleon passed through town along with thousands of his freezing soldiers during their disastrous retreat. Some French units passed through months earlier on their way east and were grateful to find good water there which they hadnÕt been able to get in the swamps further west.
--So far I have located records of two Dolhinov Jews who served in the Russian army in World War One and hope to find more information on others.
--To see three pictures of Dolhinov taken by German soldiers in World War Two—two of the Catholic church and one of German soldiers being buried—see http://bagnowka.com/index.php?m=ww&g=zoom&gal=11&img=3491 (for pictures see the end of the newsletter)
--There are about eight books in Polish I have found so far that discuss the life of the Polish community in Dolhinov. I need help from someone who can read Polish. Please contact me.
--The Soviet army liberated Dolhinov on July 4, 1944, I have found details of the event in both the German and the Soviet reports on the Belarus campaign. The unit that captured Dolhinov was the Soviet Fifth Army.
And finally my personal favorite: In 1849, Rabbi Shmuel of Dolghinov (can anyone tell me his last name?) wrote Sir Moses Montefiore, the internationally famous Jewish philanthropist in London, urging him to help build a Jewish hospital in Jerusalem. The letter is quite impressive and it shows that even then our ancestors were concerned about the contemporary land of Israel and how much they followed Jewish events elsewhere.
Joel Sprayregen stopped by for a personal briefing on new discoveries about Dolhinov and I hope he will be writing up some of his fascinating family experiences soon.
Thanks to all those who helped me so far and please let me hear your family stories. Genealogy is not so useful to me right now.
And finally, finally, a new member:
A Dolhinov Epstein:
My uncle lived in the town of Dolhinov
before the war. He was a Shohet in the town.
He was originally from Ilya (now Belarus). He married the daughter
of the Shohet living in Dolhinov and moved there...My uncle's name was
Avrohom Ber Epstein; his wife's name was Devorah. I do not Know her
maiden name. My uncle, his wife and their four children were murdered by
the nazis
and their local neighbors. I have a picture of my uncle (my mother's
brother) and also a picture of his children.
I would be very happy to receive any information about Dolhinov and perhaps
someone would know my Aunt Devorah's
father's name for her family were originally from Dolhinov.
Thank you! Happy Chanukah!
Annette Blum New York City
"anntte blum" <ablum13@hotmail.com>
And still another Dolhinov Sprayregen
It was nice to see your interchange with Joel, who is the Spreiregen (Sprayragen, Sparr) family historian and to learn of your interest in our little schtetl. Joel and I descend from Rabbi Haim Yithak Spreiregen who had 2 sons (Joel's family comes from one son, and mine the other). My grandfather Schmuel came to the USA around 1900. Our name was changed to Sparr by my father's generation. Joel and I have talked about organizing of visit to Dolhinov but life being busy for all of us, it is hard to clear the time.
My father's favorite performer was Al Jolson and it was nice to find a connection between him and our community.* We also have a loose connection to Paul McCartney - Linda Eastman's dad married a woman who had previously been married to a Sprayregen!
I am a Neurologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. ÉPlease keep me in the loop. If you proceed with the book project, I have a few anecdotes to contribute. I would like to get copies of the videos that you mentioned. Could you please send me contact info to obtain copies?
Steve Sparr MD sasparr@aol.com
A note: remember you can get copies of the film dvc from Leon Rubin. Be sure—if you live in the US—to watch it on your computer which is easy as it might not work on your vcr.
Two pictures of Dolhinow Catholic church by German soldiers 1941 at
http://bagnowka.com/index.php?m=atoz&g=1&img=34019
[1][2]
|
|
|
Dołhin—w |
|
|
|
|
|
http://bagnowka.com/index.php?m=ww&g=zoom&gal=11&img=3491
http://globus.tut.by/dolginovo/index.htm
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Фотогалерея (7 изображ., эскизы)
Действовал без перерыва. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Фотогалерея (3 изображ., эскизы) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Фотогалерея (2 изображ., эскизы) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Фотогалерея (2 изображ., эскизы) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Фотогалерея (4 изображ., эскизы) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Фотогалерея (3 изображ., эскизы) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Фотогалерея (2 изображ., эскизы) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.radzima.org/pub/miesta.php?lang=ru&miesta_id1=mevjdauh
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
