"They should know that there was once a shtetl named Dokshitz, where Jewish life flourished." Shechina Kantorovitch

 May, 2008. I just returned from the Dokshitsy. It was an incredible experience. Unbeknown to us, the town had prepared an all-day program.

 Our group consisted of 14 people from Cape Town, SA (Joe and Dinah Polliack), Massachusetts (Meridith Hoffman,Aaron Ginsburg, Rebecca Ginsburg), New York City (Janet Wolfe), Rochester, NY (Peggy Raskind Blumenthal, Ron Gould), Moscow (Mark Izeman his wife Tanya Khotin, and their sons), and Florida (Jane and John Fisher formerly of Duluth). We were also accompanied by a Jewish Telegraphic Agency reporter, our videographer, our representative Frank Swartz, his wife Galena Swartz our translator, and Freda Reismen  of the Minsk Ghetto Survivors Organization. continued below


 

a video by Mark Izeman(double click picture to enlarge). On our photo and video page is a description of the video and several slide shows with pictures of our time in Dokshitsy, Minsk, and Moscow. Here is an example: slide show

As we stepped off our mini-bus on Friday May 23, 208 we were greeted by the District Chairman with local media present including a TV crew and several journalists.  At the municipal building I responded to a welcoming speech by the Chairman.  Each of us then  introduced ourselves and explained our connection to Dokshitsy. For most of us this meant parents or grandparents who were born in Dokshitsy. Mark Izeman held up a picture with him and his grandfather Joe Adelson who was born in Dokshitsy and came to Newport, RI when he was a child. We all received  a booklet from the 600th anniversary of the town, celebrated last year.  When we left building, we are asked to switch to a full size bus provided by the town so 10 officials could join us. We were joined by Nikolai Dmitrivich Chistakov, the town historian (formerly a history teacher), who has been helpful to many visitors. Nikolai was a teenager during World War II, and remembers many of his Jewish neighbors.We proceeded to the High School.  At the door  the principal, the school superintendent, an  English speaking student and a student with the traditional welcome of bread and salt welcomed us.  We then toured  the school's museum. Guided by the principal we entered a room devoted to the history of the town. The principal paused at a picture of the ghetto and said "We know there is a missing page here, and we intend to complete it." In the auditorium where students stood as we entered. We sat down and  introduced ourselves. I went last this time, which meant that everyone had already said my lines.  I told the students that one person can make a difference, and that they could be that person. ...Then I said have a great summer! (It was the last day of school).  I was presented with a wooden plaque. We presented a digital camera to the school. I told them it was to help them remember.   A program about the war included singing and poetry and narrative.   As we left the school we were joined by Jonathan Moore, the ranking diplomat in the American Embassy. This unannounced arrival was a bit distracting to the local media, who were obviously felt obligated  to ask him about American-Belorussian relations, and I heard him ably and patiently conveying the American position.
During the short drive to the cemetery  I was told that the officials thought the weather meant we should reduce the elaborate ceremony I had planned to a bare minimum. First we lay flowers at the original  holocaust memorial. We then went across the street to the cemetery and did the same. It was cloudy, and starting to rain. They gave their speech, I gave my speech and then we recited the Kaddish. 

The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy  sponsored lunch for ourselves and the accompanying officials.  This included numerous toasts, of course, and the vodka flowed.  I sat opposite  Jonathan Moore the American diplomat. He was there on behalf of himself and a fellow diplomat who was a Dokshitsy descendant, but unable to attend.

At the art and dance school we were again greeted with bread and salt.  We viewed their work, which included some pictures devoted to the wartime horrors. Then they put on a musical review, including a song in English (summertime by Gershwin from Porgy and Bess. We then received presents...work by the students. We then were supposed to judge the art work. I had 3 mp players for presents. We decided to donate them to the school.

We revisited the cemetery. On the way out of tosn I wanted to see a couple of small settlements so I was driven ahead of the bus.. I went first to Shunevka, one of many villages in Belarus that were destroyed during the WWII  (124 were never rebuilt). It was a street parallel to the modern road with outlines of the houses. Sixty-five residents were burned in the barn and sixtten children were thrown alive down a well which is still there. As I left the bus came up.  I then sped to two locations that were 6 km on dirt roads off the dirt road. In Uskrimie, my great grandfather had a mill.  Karalina was where Joel Alpert's family was from. I rendezvoused with  the bus in nearby Begoml and it was back to Minsk.                                                  
Aaron Ginsburg President,The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy  

Enter the site to learn more about Jewish Dokshitsy and the cemetery restoration effort then help preserve our history. Watch for future plans. We will be going back, hopefully with more than 14 people.

http://www.jewishdokshitsy.org/ or contact me at info@jewishdokshitsy.org or call me at my home in Sharon, Mass., at 508-682-3115.