WEBMASTER'S NOTE

The short stories that make up this Internet publication have now been refined, reedited,  and published as a book.  Copies of this book can be purchased at   www.designsquares.com/tots.html     Once the book is in full distribution, the bulk of these stories contained in this web based version will be withdrawn.

The "Shtetel" – Why?

When I decided to start writing a few stories about the shtetel, it was just to be a  recounting of some of the things that happened and touched me.  They were to be a series of short tales taken from part of my personal memory.

As time went on, however, I realized these stories must have a stronger meaning.  I recognized that by describing and recounting everyday life of Shebreshin, I would not only be telling about my small town, but about hundreds and even thousands of small towns (and even large cities) that existed and flourished for hundreds, many hundreds, of years.  This was a way of life for millions, producing a language (Yiddish), a unique culture with thinkers, artists, and craftsmen  that had connections to similar people all over the world. 

And yet, suddenly, in a short five year period, all were wiped out in a most horrible way – disappearing from the face of the world.

How could a small group of psychopaths take over one of the most cultural, civilized countries; Germany, and create hell on earth to a nation of innocent, simple people, completely wiping out 6 million Jews, (half of the Jewish people), plus about 20 million other humans?

It is unbelievable, but this horrible deed was accomplished in just a few years -  from 1939 through 1944.  In the beginning, the world wouldn’t believe the stories and rumors of the atrocities, and when they finally found out that these horrific and vile  events were true, they had other interests, they had their own individual personal and national interests, but, in truth, most did not care.  If they cared at all, they still did nothing to stop it, nor to rescue the condemned helpless Jewish inhabitants of the European continent.  Some dedicated young Jews from Palestine made an effort to rescue their fellow Jews, but success in more than token numbers would have required support from large nations, and that was not forthcoming. 

The slaughter, the elimination of so many lives, went on. 

The Nazis and their damned S. S. troopers accomplished their infamous goals!

Effectively, there were no more live Jews in continental Europe.  

The shtetels ceased to be.  There are no more shtetels, except in memory.

I began to realize that in my own way I was starting to recreate the little towns as they were.  I write about the clothes that were worn, the way the holidays were observed, the way that religion and traditions kept them together.  These were the everyday goings on that I remember so well.  I want my children, and their children, to know the facts and the roots that I came from because it is part of our family history, and a part of Jewish history.

The knowledge of the warmth and security of our former life should not disappear.  I now feel that this is my destiny to tell these tales.  I don’t want to fail in this task, nor to forget.  I must recreate the shtetels and put them back together so that others will understand.

It is all too ironic that when a few elderly Jewish Holocaust survivors tried to return to their homes in Kielci, Poland, the newly freed Poles were afraid that the Jews would demand their properties back, and so they started still another pogrom, killing all of these old people. And this was in 1946!  

I don’t know that my relating of these recollections are strong enough to leave lasting impressions upon the readers of these tales.  I do hope that my family will understand and feel them deeply.

And I sincerely hope that maybe, just maybe, some other former resident of a shtetel, a better writer, a better story teller, will read my stories and add his own in a more intelligent and literary form.  It is important to illustrate and recount life in the shtetels without fantasy, without lies, or too many literary liberties.

The shtetel has to survive in our hearts and minds.