B. TABACZYNSKI THE SCHOOL AND EDUCATION Jewish Bialystok, which was an attempt to translate idealism into practice, to transform dreams of social justice into fact, demonstrated unusual self-sacrifice and offered fierce resistance during the most difficult days of pain and anguish brought on by the Nazi occupation. Bialystok was a collective hero, combining sacred- ness with might, struggling with the Nazi beasts in its own way for longer than other cities. The Jews of Bialystok were able to show this defiance in large measure because many in the ghetto were the teachers and students of the Jewish schools, as well as the social activists. In those nightmarish days, all of them were heroes. See 000 6 The women’s athletic group Morgensteren of the Youth Organization Tzukunft, 1927. The history of the Bialystok school system was, to a large degree, the story of the workers and the plain people. Its supporters were Jewish workers’ in the main, some Bundists and, to a lesser extent, the Jewish intelli- gentsia. The schools sprang up in the poor sections, where those without means lived. The language of these unfortunates was Yiddish, tying them together with other elements of Jewish society in Bialystok. At the beginning of World War I, when the politi- cal shackles that bound the Jewish working masses had slackened, these hungry people responded to the call of the Bund, the Revolutionary Socialists and the Labor Zionists to establish living institutions — schools and cultural organizations — that would inculcate into the upcoming generation a sense of Jewish pride and nationalism in addition to providing a basic education. Some of these schools were subsidized by the Kehil/a in Bialystok. Among these schools were: Groser School, Mendele School, Peretz School, J. Chmurner (Youth The Bialystoker Memorial Book Association) School, and the Kindergarten School. Many creative and imaginative teachers motivated the students, leaving a lasting imprint for the remainder of their lives that they passed on to later generations. The following served on the Board of Jewish Edu- cation: Binjomin Tabaczynski, Ruwen Chajet, Pinje Fejgin, Zejdl Nowiski, Psachje, Mordechaj Zablu- dowski, Luba Kanel, Zalmen, Ruwin, A. Domeracki, Fiszl Kacenelenbojgn. They are no longer here. Words cannot comfort the pain of Bialystoker Jews. Their world was destroyed. It is difficult to tolerate the profound grief when remem- bering what was. Even the graves of the departed are unknown, but they live on in the memories of their SUrVIVOTS. Indeed, their legacy will be perpetuated by future generations. JEWISH PRINTERS ASSOCIATION Before the Nazi occupation, Bialystok had ten Jew- ish publishing houses that employed about 100 printers and organized a local of the Warsaw Printers Union. The local gave economic and moral support to its members, calling several strikes when necessary, which ended to the members’ advantage. The printers’ major focus was newspapers and, secondarily, books and magazines. Among Jewish printers who perished in the early part of the Holocaust in Bialystok were: Josef Zeligson, Ruwen Skljut, Isroel Bernacki, Motl Frydman, J. Chas- kel, Naftoli Feldman, the Sokolski brothers, Zejdl, Portnoy, and others. On June 22, the Soviet army drafted the following printers: Izaak Rybalowski, Efra- jim Portnoj, Jankel Zalcman, Tejman and others. The following continued as printers in the Bialy- stok ghetto: Herszl Kozak, Chaim Motinko, Binjomin Gutman, Izchok Zakczewski, Nochum Zakczewski, Meir Kruglewicki, Mojsze Kozak. Printers killed in the 1943 liquidation actions were: Awrom Bron, Szlojme Kozak, Szlojme Dajcz, Meir Kruglewicki, Mojsze Gold, Welwel Yuchnowecki, Jerachmiel Rybalowski, Mojsze Kaplan, Herszl Noszko, Mordechaj Farber, Heszl Dlugacz, J. Trun- kowski, Szlojme Zylbersztejn, Munjye Zeligzon, Welwel Rajser and many others. The following printers survived: Herszl Kozak, Refoel Rajzner and Jechiel Plac. 43