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Memories
Vignettes
and Remembrances
The writings in the Sefer Vladimirets were formal, done with
great care, as a memorial to those who perished. In researching
Vladimirets, we ended up with little snippets of things -- a
remembrance of a building that no longer exists, a memory of
being a child in Vladimirets. These are usually casual
remembrances, little things highlighting that people in pre-WWII
Vladimirets were the same as any other time, any other place.
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The Bath
House -- Yosef Leshetz
The Bath-house, it was on the way to "Kobluvka", a
region between "Kanonitch" and "Dubivka" villages. This
was an old brick house, and was maintained by the family
of " Beder". This "Beder" (person in charge of the Bath,
and not his family-name, just a nickname) used to live
just right to the bath in this house (right), we can't
tell his real name. On the other side of the same
building was the actual Bath-house (left).
This is a short depiction of the inside of the Bath:
On the entrance was a room to get undressed and keep
the cloths for a small amount of money, it was mainly
active on Fridays. Jews were washing and also using what
is called the " Mikveh", a cold-water basin which was
used after the Bath-wash (Jews only did it before the
Shabbat entered). In the Bath they were getting a
wooden-bucket filled with cold water and also a tied
batch of leaves (like a small broom) that was used as a
scrub. The Bath was one big room with 3- wide concrete
steps, each takes one up to a hotter sauna, the heat was
generated out of big rocks heated to a very high
temperature in a stove, when there was a need to a
hotter steam, the water in the "Sheffalle" (the
wooden-bucket) was used to be thrown at the hot rocks.
When too hot, the leaf-scrub was soaked in the bucket
and splashed to cool one's body. The house was probably
closed on Saturdays and Sundays. I was 5-6 years old
when I used to go there with my grandfather, usually on
Fridays.
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The Old Craftsman's Synagogue --
Yosef Leshetz via his son Lior
(this was in response to some questions about the
Vladimirets map -- #16 on the map is the old Craftsman's
Synagogue, which is now a former church turned molasses
factory. We wondered if the church was the former
synagogue. . .)
This is not the craftsman synagogue for sure! We
never been to it in our trips. The reason is simple: dad
says (without even taking a look at the pictures yet)
that there is absolutely no-way that the old craftsmen
could last...it was a very shabby and small room made of
old woods, on the inside it had a rotten wooden-floor, 1
bench and 1 table. Little kids like my father learnt
their first reading lessons there. 15 meters near it, a
slaughterer named Avraham Slepak was living. The
building in photo was probably built on the very same
place - occupying the old craftsmen and Slepak's house.
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Arranged
marriages? Feh!
(Terryn Barill Tower) Most of the Hollywood images of
Jewish marriage in the "Old Country" show arranged
marriages. I once asked my Bubbie (Rifka Chizi
Barill) if that's how she and my Zeda got married.
"Feh!" she says. "Arranged marriage! If
anyone had ever told me I was going to marry Louis
Barill, I would have spit in their face!"
Once they got married, he was the
center of her universe.
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When my Bubbie was younger, she
used to wait up for her older sister Droshna to come
home from dates. She would spy on her from a window to
see when she came home. Once, she saw Droshna kiss a
boy good-night and ran and told her father, just to get
Droshna in trouble.
I can't remember who told me the
story (I think it was my Auntie Doris), but I always
thought it was funny. . .anyone who met my Bubbie once
they came to America would never have seen a mischievous
younger sister in Rifka.
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The House of Beider -- -- Yosef
Leshetz via his son Lior
One building that's still standing today is the house of
"Beider", one of town richest merchants, it is a two
story brick house and is much different of all the other
surrounding buildings. I have attached a map, the red
circle shows approximately it's place, the blue circle
is my father's house. "Beider's" house wasn't too far
from the "Gralnia" and the "Shazalka" swamp as you can
see. Also my father mentioned the Polish school #19
(which turned to be Jew's school during the Soviet
period), it was near the hospital and a new Soviet
military base and airport. He remembers jumping out the
window of his classroom to see the landing aircrafts
there.
Portion of the SV map showing locations of the Beider
house and the Leshetz house. (click to enlarge)
[Note: Yisrael Beider was a
brickmaker, and had a brick factory not far from
Vladimirets.]
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Avrom-Aaron's
orchards -- --
Abe Brill
Avrom-Aaron Baril (my grandfather),
had a very large house, with some land next to it with
several fruit trees, mostly plums, I think. He
used to tell us to stay out of the orchard and away from
the trees. When I was very young, my cousins and I
would climb the trees to try to steal the fruit.
Avrom-Aaron would get very angry and stand on the ground
throwing things at us until we got out of the trees.
We would always get into trouble for stealing his fruit.
But he was such a good man, the only reason he kept the
trees was for the fruit. He would put it all into
baskets and before dawn, he would leave it on the
doorsteps of those who were too poor to eat. So
they would have food, but they wouldn't have to ask for
it.
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