Rybka, Josef Rajzner, Lejzer Rajzner, Szmuel Reznik, Szlojme Rembiszewski, Hersz Szajak, Gedaljohu Szachnes, Cyla Szapiro, Broche Szwarc, Chaje Szuster, Chaim Szurik, Bira Szurik, Hela Sztifeld Szteper, Nachman Sztern Szternfeld, Isroel Sztrojsberg, Chayjcze Szczepjacki Szajke from Czechenowce Szlumiel, Lipe Szlajfer, Binjomin Szlojyme Szlenger, Marek Szmit, Sonja Sznajder, Arye Szedler, Hersz THE CITY DESTROYED On July 27, 1944, after fierce battles between Soviet and Nazi forces, the Red Army liberated Bialystok, which was a tragic scene of desolation and ruin. What was once a citadel of vibrant Jewish life had become a wasteland. The energy and creativity of gen- erations of Jews had vanished in a barbaric orgy. Jewish neighborhoods in Bialystok, once ebullient and enthusiastic, were plunged into deep melancholy. The Nazi murderers had destroyed everything. It was incredible that such total devastation could result in so short a time. Tens of thousands of Bialystoker Jewish men, women and children perished in Auschwitz, Treblinka and other Nazi concentration camps. Bialystok — a microcosm of Jewish life in Eastern Europe — disap- peared, as though it had never existed. Shortly after the Soviets liberated the city, a few Jews returned to the shattered remains of their beloved hometown, miraculously having escaped the fate of their six million brethren. The massive destruction they saw made them feel like branches torn from a tree, and they wept. But they did not give up. As time went on, more Jews came back to the city. How they managed to sur- vive 1s beyond human comprehension. Their reunion restored hope and they clung together like one large family mourning. These few who emerged from Hitler’s inferno — the camps, forests, bunkers, endless wanderings and dislocations — were immersed in their painful memo- ries but resolved to begin anew. Their goal was to rebuild Bialystok’s Jewish com- munity, and they were aided by generous /andsleit in all parts of the world, mostly by the Bialystoker Center in New York. They vowed never to forget thousands of their brothers and sisters who had perished in the Holocaust, nor those who had died resisting the Nazi enemy. The Bialystoker Memorial Book AWROM SZEWACH OUR STREETS O streets of Bialystok You are no longer, But streets of Bialystok In me you will live forever. Our homes are all gone, Just a few walls still stand; Young lads in tatters roam, Just a few toddlers, who really knows? Laughter in the night, From couples in love Singing to their hearts delight Yet filled with trouble enough. O streets of Bialystok You are no longer But streets of Bialystok In me you will live forever. O streets of Bialystok How once you beamed with pride; Now all that remains, O Bialystok, Is a cemetery bonafide. No more will we live in our homes, Now surrounded by thorns and stones Just heaps of ruin and pits abound No one is any longer around. Our Jewish neighbors run no longer To the marketplace in order to barter Singing no more Rozhinkes Mit Mandlen All we loved has come to an end. O streets of Bialystok, All trace of you has disappeared; I shall always remember you O Bialystok, Until my last breath, I fear. 113