Knyszin

... Sam (Mejszl) Solasz was born in Knyszin, on the outskirts of Bialystok, on May 5, 1928. Both his grand- fathers were important religious functionaries in their communities. His mother’s father was the Rabbi of Biala-Podlask, a small town near Lublin. His father’s father served as a sexton in Newark, New Jersey. Rais- ing seven sons and four daughters, Mr. Solasz’s parents were devoted to one another, and observed the tradi- tions of their Jewish faith. ...

... The driving force behind the Tel Chai kibbutz, who later would be one of the heroes in the Bialystoker re- sistance against the Nazis, was Mordechaj Tenenbaum- Tamarof. He came to Bialystok during the war from Wilno, Warsaw and other places where he had been active in organizing and leading resistance campaigns against the Nazis. The kibbutz boasted of other young leaders and several scores of members committed to make Aliyah who later demonstrated tremendous hero- ism against the Nazi oppressors. They included: Cwi Hersz Mersik of Melnice, near Kowel; Herszl Cwi Rozental of Jaszynowka; Ruwen Rozenberg of Sucho- wolja; Chanoch Zelaznagora of Szedliec; Jochewed Wajnsztein of Knyszin; Gedalja Petljuk of Knyszin; Cypora Birman of Rozyszcze; Tema Sznajderman of Warsaw, and others. ...