A group of cyclists of the Jewish Sports Club in Bialystok in 1926. patrons. It even had its own orchestra, directed by Gerszon Lozowski (Lozow), and reading room, where Yiddish and Polish newspapers were available. In the five years from 1928 to 1933, the Jewish Sports Club of Bialystok was at the pinnacle of its suc- cess. Every section reached the highest levels of achieve- ment; the club was in its glory. The soccer stars were: Lach, Froftiker, Goldfarb, the Fuchaczewski brothers, Fridman, Gold, Faktor, Henach Jaczmenik, Bulgar and Berele Zawacki (Barney Sacks). The bicyclists included Zalman Olianski and Sasza Jutkowski (a dental technician from Krink), who pedaled through Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, Yugoslavia, Denmark and other countries in six months. The locksmith, Mejszke Chemiowicz, designed the bicycles especially for this international journey. Nachman Suchowolski headed the cyclists’ section. ISK also offered programs of an intellectual and cultural nature. Its administration often arranged dis- cussions, debates and musical entertainment evenings. At its various anniversary celebrations, the club awarded medals and trophies to its top athletes. Although Bialystok had six different Jewish sports organizations, ISK was the only one not bound to a particular political party. The competition among the sports clubs was great and Bialystok was not able to subsidize all of them. In fact, their respective financial circumstances became more critical each day. Finally, ISK was forced to give up its sports arena, which was vital to the club’s future. In 1935, both ISK and its rival, the Maccabees, found they had no other choice but to merge, a step fiercely opposed by officers of both clubs. The follow- ing officers discussed this question at secret meetings: Cale Frenkl, Maccabee chairman; Izaak Lewin, R. Racki, Izaak Rybalowski, Pynchos Ginzburg, J. Frof- tiker, 5. Lewin, Pejsach Pomeranc and Nachman Suchowolski. Finally, the merger did go through and the new organization was called ‘‘ISK-Maccabee.”’ A new, unified administration was elected representing both clubs, including: Awrom Sokol, chairman, Zejdl 32 Frid, vice-chairman, P. Ginzburg, secretary. In 1936-37 numerous soccer and light sports games were organized in a large arena, involving teams from Bialystok and other cities in Poland. Since Bialystok had never before hosted games on such a large scale, these events were nicknamed the ‘‘Mintature Olympics.” In 1939, when the Soviet Union occupied Bialy- stok, the structure of the sports club was changed to conform to the Soviet organizational style. Russian names were given to each club, and membership was assigned according to the work place. The excellent ath- letes in Bialystok distinguished themselves throughout the Russian occupation. When the Nazis invaded Bialystok, many of its fin- est sportsmen, who earned such prestige for their home- town, perished, mostly in the Bialystok ghetto. They included: Szoul Osowicki — soccer player, ghetto resis- ter; Orkin — light athletics; Izchok Brzezinski — boxer; Galand — soccer player, ghetto fighter. Tortured and murdered by the Gestapo after his capture for attempt- ing to buy arms for his resistance organizations: Gerszuni — electrical engineer. Perished in July 1941 after being accused by Polish Fascists of being a Communist: Lowke Grinberg — sportsman. Died in the ‘‘Thursday”’ or ‘‘Sat- urday’’ massacre: Becalel Wigodski — light athletics; Izchok Lach — light athletics. Died in Great Synagogue fire: Nochum Machaj — basketball player; Mojshe Sal- man — secretary of Maccabee Club and sports editor of Das Neue Leben: Luba Subotnik — light athletics; Spektor — tennis player. Perished during the first liquidation: Pejsach Pomeranc — sportsman and athletics instructor; Szoul Pastrigacz — boxer. Perished in Saturday mass- acre: Becalel Frenkl — tennis player. Died during Thurs- day massacre: Sarczyk Frenkl — the above’s brother. Tennis player; Boruch Kagan — basketball player; Binjo- min Kameniecki — secretary of Maccabee and kehilla sec- retary; Chackel Kusznier — boxer; Andrzej Robel — light athletics; Aron Rubin — bicyclist. pee NS) The Bialystoker Memorial Book