America, their drive, courage and boundless optimism permitted them to overcome all obstacles. Laborers, craftsmen, manufacturers, builders, industrialists — the Jews of Bialystok helped to enrich life in America with their energy, enthusiasm and tal- ent. Many assisted in building homes and hotels. Others developed large clothing, furniture, cigar and cigarette, gold and diamond, leather, publishing, bookbinding and upholstery businesses. Bialystoker Jews expanded Ameri- can commerce, on both a large and small scale. Bialy- stokers excelled in medicine, science, research, literature, music, entertainment, the press and many other areas. These men and women often proudly disclose their Bialy- stoker origins. Generations of Bialystoker Jews have also played an important role within the Jewish community in the United States. We can find Bialystokers in Jewish organizations, institutions, clubs and religious life. They occupy important places in the Yiddish press, literature, theater, music, art, and liturgical music. They have brought honor to the Bialystoker community in America. The great losses we sustained during World War II can never be replaced. But I believe we can draw some comfort that Bialystoker survivors and immigrants in America insisted on continuing the wonderful traditions of our hometown. The Bialystoker Center in New York is promoting solidarity between /andsleit and their children. Let us never ignore our Bialystoker legacy. We are obliged to imbue our successors with determination to remember their past and do their heritage proud by car- rying on in our footsteps. This memorial volume will help in this effort. The David Sohn Picture Album In 1951, the Bialystoker Center in New York published a large album containing 1,200 pictures, with a Yiddish and English text, compiled by the late David Sohn. This album, which reviews three hundred years of Jewish life in Bialystok and activities of /andsleit throughout the world, has 386 pages and 15 titled: Bialystok Picture Album — A Famous City and Its Jews Throughout the World. The Bialystoker Center in New York is proud of this important pictorial record. 172 THE BIALYSTOKER SYNAGOGUE IN NEW YORK One of the oldest synagogues on New York’s Lower East Side, Bet Haknesset Anshei Bialystok, located at 7 Willet Street, was founded more than one hundred years ago by Jews from Bialystok. In 1868, two Bialy- stoker societies, the Anshei Chesed and the Adath Jeshurun, whose members included carpenters, shoe- makers, tailors, painters and other tradesmen, formed RABBI JACOB ESKOLSKY Spiritual leader of the Bialystoker Synagogue for many years; died in 1931. small prayer groups. Later on, they merged and, pool- ing their resources and making generous donations, built the impressive edifice in 1868 known today as the Bialystoker Synagogue. A prominent Orthodox house of worship, the Bia- lystoker Shul is one of the few remaining synagogues on the Lower East Side. Its interior — the Holy Ark, paintings and massive wooden pews — was designed to resemble the Great Synagogue in Bialystok, burned by the Nazis in 1941. In 1978, the Bialystoker Synagogue in New York celebrated its one hundredth anniversary and, at the same time, was designated an historic land- mark by the City and State of New York. For many years, its spiritual leader was Rabbi Jacob Eskolsky, who died in 1931. His son, Rabbi Michael Eskolsky, succeeded him until his death in 1951. Many founders and leaders of the Bialystoker Shul in its early years subsequently helped build the Bialy- stoker Center and Home for the Aged. The Bialystoker Memorial Book