2 ' ‘ i FIRST REGIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE POALE ZION IN 1906 Right to left: Dowid Klementynowski, Ch. Oldak, Josef Antokolski, Jankl Janowski, Fajwel the Weaver (Szrajbman). buting arms for Jewish self-defense, and circulating literature explaining the revolutionary goals of the Labor Zionists. Among the active young members of the Labor Zionist Party I still recall are: Zelda Kagan, Michle Fridman and her brother, Herszl; Becalel Maranc, Noske Pam, and Jekusiel Dziwak, Awrom Kagan, and Lejbel Liberman. Although the party was smaller in numbers than the Bund, it managed to develop a popular program of activities. The Labor Zionists participated in the May Day demonstrations and in the worker outings in the forest, where in October 1904 the first serious clash took place with the police. As our members marched together to jail, Bialystoker workers stormed the tower to free political prisoners. Many Jewish laborers were killed or wounded by police gunfire. The Labor Zion- ists conducted their own political activities, making dar- ing attacks on postal wagons in the smaller towns around Bialystok for the purpose of expropriating Cza- rist blood money with which to enhance party activities. After the organizing convention of the Interna- tional Labor Zionist Party in 1906, a Russian periodi- cal, Jewish Workers Chronicle, began publication. It was always a delight, particularly in Bialystok, to receive this magazine. It provided the theories and principles upon which the party was founded and helped the organizers influence the masses. Only the more edu- cated appreciated this journal, because it was more technical than popular. The leaders translated it from Russian into Yiddish and made it easier to understand. The Jewish Workers Chronicle was read not only by Labor Zionists but also by Bundists. This growing prominence made our party in_ Bialystok more accepted. Our organizational activities, as a result, were strengthened. In April 1906, a regional conference of Labor Zionists was held in Bialystok at which Grodno, Brisk, Grajewo, Wolkowisk, Horodok and other communities were represented. A regional committee was appointed including: Jankl Janowski, Josef Antokolski, Chajkel Oldak, Fajwel Weber and me. Important leaders of the Jewish community began to realize that Zionism had to become a people’s move- ment and that the Zionist Congress should assume the role of a Jewish parliament, where workers could participate. The Czarist police kept the members of the Labor Zionist Party continually under surveillance. Safe houses had to be found where activities could be carried on without arrests and reprisals. As the party became more prestigious, sympathizers grew increasingly will- ing to risk providing its members with these havens. The bloody pogrom in Bialystok of June 1-3, 1906 virtually destroyed the regional committee of the Labor Zionist Party. For a time it was necessary to focus our efforts on self-defense and helping the wounded. In 1908 the Labor Zionist Party faded in Bialystok, as did the entire socialist movement in Russia. Later on, however, it enjoyed a short-lived resurgence until the period between the two World Wars, when the Bialy- stok Labor Zionists once again carried out important activities. Some of the Well-Known Jewish Physicians in Bialystok DR. JOSEPH RUBENSTEIN Gynecologist since 1897. Very active in many organizations; Chairman of “Linas 11262606// and of a unit of “Toz.” The Bialystoker Memorial Book DR. LEON PINES Famous eye specialist whose clinic in Bialystok was known throughout Poland and in foreign DR. MOSES ZYMAN Executive Director, Jewish Hospital; practiced in Bialystok for 40 years. 25