(FROM "YIZKOR BOOK- ARGENTINA 1961)
Yitzhak Chessler, Argentina 1961

Translation by Daphna Brafman
Coordinated by Tilford Bartman

TWO REASONS MADE US WANT TO PUBLISH THE "YIZKOR BOOK" IN MEMORY OF OUR TOWN AND HOME OF ZABLUDOW. ONE- EMOTIONAL AND HUMAN, AND THAT IS THE DESIRE TO IMMORTALIZE OUR PAST SPIRITUAL EXISTENCE, AND TO CONSTRUCT A MONUMENT- A LIVING TESTIMONY THAT WILL TELL OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN ABOUT OUR LIFE AND ITS CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT IN OUR OLD HOME; ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS AND THEIR CONSTANT STRUGGLE FOR A LIFE OF HONOUR AND DIGNITY; FOR THEIR TRUST IN G-D'S HELP---

THESE WERE PLANTED IN OUR SOULS AND HELPED US IN THE COUNTRIES WE WENT TO FOR REFUGE. IT IS OUR HOPE THAT THE YOUNG GENERATIONS WILL BE FAMILIAR WITH THEIR HERITAGE AND PROUDLY REMEMBER IT, FOR IN IT THEIR SPIRITS SHALL FIND STRENGTH AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO CONTINUE AND GUARD IT FOR EVER.

THE SECOND REASON IS HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL. ZABLUDOW WAS ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT TOWNS OF POLAND. MANY OF THE MEETINGS OF THE VAAD MEDINAT LITA (JEWISH PARLIAMENT OF LITHUANIA) TOOK PLACE RIGHT HERE.

THE SYNAGOGUE OF ZABLUDOW EXISTED FOUR HUNDRED YEARS, AND WAS ONE OF THE FEW WONDEROUS REMNANTS OF THE ANCIENT JEWISH ARCHITECTUAL ART.

THE NAZIS ANNIHILATED THE TOWN AND ITS JEWISH RESIDENTS- BUT WE MUST NOT FORGET ZABLUDOW'S GREAT MEN: R. BENDET, THE AUTHOR OF "NER HATAMID" (ETERNAL CANDLE); THE FULL OF TALES TSADIK R. YOSELEH; R. CHAIM ZELIG SLONIMSKY WHO WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE HASKALAH, MATHEMATICIAN AND EDITOR OF "HATSFIRAH"; THE WRITER AND WARRIOR YAACOV KREPLIAK, AND OTHERS. WE FELT ITS OUR DUTY TO IMMORTALIZE THE ZABLUDOW COMMUNITY IN THE YIZKOR BOOK SO THE FUTURE HISTORIAN WILL FIND IN IT A HISTORICAL TREASURE OF THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN EASTERN EUROPE AND ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN LITA AND IN BELORUSSIA

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THE HEART IS BLEEDING…TEARS FILL MY THROAT…IT IS DIFFICULT TO WRITE WHEN YOU KNOW THAT THESE ARE OPENING REMARKS TO A BOOK THAT REFLECTS A LIFE STORY THAT IS WEAVED OVER A PERIOD OF CENTURIES IN SUCH AN IMPORTANT JEWISH COMMUNITY AS ZABLUDOW. IT IS DIFFICULT TO WRITE WHEN YOU KNOW THAT THE YIZKOR BOOK WILL BE NO MORE THAN JUST A PALE SHADOW TO THE VITAL JEWISH LIVES IN SUCH AN ANCIENT HISTORICAL COMMUNITY, BURNT AND ERASED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH BY THE BRUTAL NAZIS, MAY THEIR NAMES AND MEMORY BE ERASED. OUR BELOVED TOWN'S YIZKOR BOOK IS PRESENTED AS OUR CONTRIBUTION TO WHAT IS CONSIDERED AS SHOA LITERATURE, A LITERATURE THAT TELLS OF THE VITAL JEWISH LIFE THAT EXISTED IN THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF POLAND. THE PRESERVATION OF THIS LIFE, UNFORTUNATELY, EXITS NOW ONLY IN THE BOOKS. MAY THIS YIZKOR BOOK SUCCEED IN PRESENTING BEFORE THE GENERATIONS AND HISTORIANS THE DAY TO DAY REALITY IN OUR TOWN, AND THE TESTIMONY OF HOW, WITH NO MERCY, IT WAS DESTROYED BY THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WORLD WAR TWO.

THE YIZKOR BOOK IS ALSO A MONUMENT- A HUMBLE MONUMENT TO THE SOULS OF OUR ANCESTORS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS- HOLY AND PURE, WHO WERE ANNIHILATED---A MARK TO THE SOULS OF OUR DEAR AND BELOVED, WHO DIED AS MARTYRS DEDICATED TO G-D AND THE PEOPLE- YOUNG AND OLD, MEN AND WOMEN, INNOCENT CHILDREN AND BABIES, INFANTS---WHO DIED IN VARIOUS TYPES OF DEATH---SHOT, MURDERED, STRANGLED, PUT TO DEATH BY GAS AND BURNT—AND WE KNOW NOT WHERE THEIR BONES AND ASHES ARE.

WE SAY YIZKOR TO THE SOULS OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE MENTIONED IN THE BOOK AND TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOK, AND WE HOPE THAT ALL THE FLAMES WILL GATHER INTO ONE BIG FIRE FOR EVER AND EVER THAT WILL RESEMBLE THE MARK OF CAIN AND BURN AND STAIN WITH BLOOD THE FOREHEAD OF THE DAMN GERMAN MURDERERS WHO MURDERED OUR PEOPLE WITH MUCH EVIL AND BRUTALITY.

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