Tag: Shoah

Shoah Martyrs from Bolechov

On my father’s side of the family:

(from Bolechov, Poland; currently, Bolekhiv, Ukraine)

Chaim ben Yaakov Schnee

Elka Schnee (nee Fasberg)

Gitel bas Chaim

Isaac ben Chaim

Sarah bas Chaim

Sason ben Chaim

Yaakov ben Chaim

Sosie bas Chaim

Melamed

Joseph ben Melamed

Chaje Ruchel bas Chaim

—– —– —–

Yehoshua Mordechai ben Yaakov Schnee

Ziona Schnee (nee Weisbard)

Moses ben Yehoshua Mordechai Schnee

Chana Schnee (nee Turkel)

Yaakov ben Moses

Celina bas Moses

Tzila bas Moses

Israel ben Yehoshua Mordechai

Sorke Schnee (nee Goldfischer)

Aryeh ben Israel

Tzinah bas Israel

Basia bas Yehoshua Mordechai

Gotshalk ben Basia

Hirsch Ber Tzvi Dov ben Yehoshua Mordechai

Kalman ben Yehoshua Mordechai

Esther bas Yehoshua Mordechai

Reisel bas Yehoshua Mordechai

Yom HaShoah 5782 – In Memory of

“Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. Therefore, prophecy, and say to them: Thus saith the L-rd G-D: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.” – Ezekiel 37:11-12. JPS 1917 Tanach

Bolechov martyrs from my family:

Chaim ben Yaakov (Schnee):

Elka Schnee (nee Fasberg)

Gitel bas Chaim

Isaac ben Chaim

Sarah bas Chaim

Sason ben Chaim

Yaakov ben Chaim

Melamed

Sosie bas Chaim

Joseph ben Melamed

Chaje Ruchel bas Chaim

~~~~~ ~~~~~

Yehoshua Mordechai ben Yaakov (Schnee):

Ziona Schnee (nee Weisbard)

Moses ben Yehoshua Mordechai

Chana Schnee (nee Turkel)

Yaakov ben Moses

Celina bas Moses

Tzila bas Moses

Israel ben Yehoshua Mordechai (Schnee)

Sorke Schnee (nee Goldfischer)

Aryeh ben Israel

Tzinah bas Israel

Basia bas Yehoshua Mordechai (Kornblitz, nee Schnee)

Gotshalk ben Basia

Hirsch Ber Tzvi Dov ben Yehoshua Mordechai

Kalman ben Yehoshua Mordechai

Esther bas Yehoshua Mordechai

Reisel bas Yehoshua Mordechai

note: Certain genealogical information set forth herein is based upon research performed on the website of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland, Inc. (www.jri-poland.org).

Butterflies

Amongst the fields of sunflowers,

dreaming in the winds of change,

butterflies roam, partaking of the nectar.

Sweet dreams interrupted by a shift

in the pleasant breezes,

accompanied by dark clouds.

Nectar runs dry, and petals wilt,

as the resting places

of the fragile two-winged creatures,

disappear from the fields.

How many Ukrainian refugees,

who have taken flight,

from the devastation,

will be blessed with a new beginning,

in faraway places, where safety resides,

miles away from their homes?

My ancestors, with prescient insight,

migrated across the Atlantic Ocean,

before the flames of the Shoah

engulfed Bolechov, and took the lives

of those who remained in the shtetl.

Ghosts of the past cry out,

Release me, into the wind,

so that our memories

will not be forgotten.

Memories and Current Events

My recent poems have been written,

primarily in response to the Ukraine war.

Feeling, recently, that the tides of change

cannot be explained any further,

nor rearranged into coherent descriptions,

I sought to refrain from this endeavor.

Yet, my heart is overflowing,

teeming with complex emotions,

and my pen, figuratively speaking,

is writing (typing out) words again,

in response to the internal reservoir,

of all that remains to be said.

My muse? Ineffable, for He Knows all,

and is above and beyond all muses.

So, redeemed, is each word that I reckon,

as not my own, rather, from deep within,

a pool of reflection, tinged with a conscience,

and a consciousness, stemming

from the part of mankind’s soul,

that is connected to the Divine.

In addition to all this, I do not know

how I can even factor into the equation,

that Bolekhiv, my ancestral hometown,

is fifty-eight miles south of Lviv,

where several dozen of my relatives

were buried in mass graves,

during the Shoah.

Yom HaShoah 5781

B”H

Holocaust Memorial Day

Bolechov Martyrs:

(ancestry on my father’s side of the family)

  • Hirsch Ber Tzvi Dov ben Yehoshua Modechai
  • Moshe ben Yehoshua Mordechai
  • Chana bas Zeev
  • Yaakov ben Moshe
  • Celina bas Moshe
  • Tzila bas Moshe
  • Basia bas Yehoshua Mordechai
  • Gotshalk ben Basia

Jerusalem Day

B”H

May 22, 2020

A poem: Perhaps

Perhaps someone knows,
where the fire still glows.

Perhaps, the stars still shine
over the lives of distant relatives.

Somewhere, in the darkness of the past,
perhaps, they returned home at last.

Today, I continuously search,
within the ashes of the Shoah.

Searching for my lost family members,
whose fate is unknown.

Yet, the light from Shomayim
will always protect their souls.

Wrapped up in the Bundle of Life,
they are preserved forever.

by Tzvi Fievel Schnee