A chapter from Kobilnik's book, published in 1967, reveals how the town's young people established the "Hechaluts" branch, learned Hebrew, prepared for productive work and dreamed of immigrating to Israel, until the Holocaust interrupted their path.
As Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, it is appropriate to pause not only to reflect on the story of the extermination, but also on the story of the lives that preceded it. One of the moving texts in this vein appears in the book Kobilnik, published by the Kobilnik Deportees Committee in Israel in 1967. The chapter "The Pioneer in Kobilnik," written by Yitzhak Gordon, describes how a youth movement emerged in a small Jewish town in the 1920s that was not content with slogans, but tried to shape a real way of life. Gordon himself managed to immigrate to Israel before the Holocaust thanks to the training he received.
My mother, Zipporah Blizowski, then Feige Blinder, was too young for these trainings, and she and her parents went through the Holocaust. On Yom Kippur in 1942, the Nazis rounded up all the remaining Jews in the town, killed 120 of them, and sent the rest to a ghetto in the nearby town of Myadl. Fortunately for them, this town was liberated by Jewish partisans about five weeks later, and they hid in the forest with the partisans. It is possible that the pioneering atmosphere that prevailed in the town brought them to one goal – to immigrate to the Land of Israel, which they did after much hardship and repeated deportation when they traveled on the ship Exodus.
The chapter opens with a sense of fracture after World War I. The old world was cracking, Europe was in turmoil, and Jewish youth were looking for a new answer. In Kobylnik, a small and relatively poor town without many economic options, this question took on a very practical dimension. Many young people understood that the future would not be built solely on petty commerce and the town's hard labor. They were looking for another avenue, both national and social, and in the midst of this search, the "Hechaluts" branch was established.
The Hechalutz branch in Kobylnik was founded in 1923. It grew out of the initiative of local young people, who sought to transform the longing for the Land of Israel into an organized framework for training, work, and study. It was not just an ideological association. The "Hechalutz" in Kobylnik was an attempt to build a new person. A young Jew who would know how to work the land, acquire a profession, speak Hebrew, and live not only for himself but as part of a national enterprise.
From traders to farmers
Here lies one of the most important dimensions of the story. In Kobylnik, as in many towns in Eastern Europe, a large part of the Jews were engaged in petty trade, peddling or traditional crafts. The transition to the idea of agricultural work, construction, carpentry or shoemaking was not obvious. On the contrary. Culturally and socially, it was almost a revolution. The book describes how the members of the "Hechaluts" went to training, learned to work the land, sought to acquire productive professions and believed that such a change was a necessary condition for immigrating to the Land and building a new life there.
The emphasis on "productive work" was repeated again and again. This was not just an ideological slogan, but a response to a real hardship. The youth understood that without real work they would have no future, neither in Kobylnik nor in the Land of Israel. Therefore, they tried to break through the old framework of town life, and move from the counter and the store to the workshop, the field and the farm. The book describes how young people preferred to learn carpentry, shoemaking, construction and agriculture, even when this did not correspond to the old habits of the family and the environment.
Alongside the professional training, the chapter also featured a cultural and educational component. The "Hechaluts" did not only seek to send young people to the land, but also to shape consciousness. The members learned Hebrew, read, listened to lectures, collected donations to the Keren Kayemet and Zionist institutions, and made the Zionist idea a living presence within the local rhythm of life. The name "Working Land of Israel" was not a distant formula in their eyes, but a practical goal. Thus, a unique connection was created in Kobylnik between a small town in Poland and a broad national vision.
One of the most moving moments in the episode is the description of the immigration of Baruch Axelrod, who is remembered as one of the first immigrants from the town. The day of his immigration, in 1925, was described as a day that will never be forgotten by the hearts of the locals. According to the testimonies, people accompanied him to the train station, and tears, excitement, and love for the land merged into an entire community event. The immigration was not perceived as a purely private act. It was a mission of an entire community, almost proof that even from a small, remote town it is possible to reach the Zionist enterprise in the Land of Israel.
Were exposed to emissaries and visitors from the Land of Israel
The book goes on to describe how the connection with the land grew stronger. Friends from Kobilnik went on training courses in various places, participated in activities, were exposed to emissaries and visitors from the Land of Israel, and drew inspiration from central figures in the Zionist and labor movements. The town did not cease to be a town, but in the minds of the youth it was already connected to something much larger than itself. "Hechaluts" gave them a language, an identity, and a feeling that they belonged to a new Jewish story.
But the chapter is not just a story about growth. It is also a story about obstruction. In the 1930s, conditions worsened. The possibilities for immigration diminished, the country's gates were increasingly closed, and the path that seemed relatively open to the younger generation at the beginning became difficult and painful. The book describes how young people preparing to immigrate encountered increasing difficulties, how friends set out for training but did not always manage to reach the country, and how the tension between hope and reality grew.
Even in this reality, the activity continued. The members of "Hechaluts" tried to maintain the framework, continue training, strengthen the youth, and maintain the belief that their time would come. This is precisely why the chapter is read with special power today. It does not just describe a community that became extinct, but a community that worked, learned, organized, dreamed, and fought for its future until almost the last moment.
The ending of the chapter is especially painful precisely because it is restrained. After World War II, Gordon writes, only a few remained. Some of those who participated in "Hechaluts" and "Hechaluts Hatza'ir" eventually found a way to immigrate to Israel or to other countries. Others reached Britain, Australia and other places. But very many did not. Behind the lines stands the enormous loss of an entire community, and of a young generation that sought to build a new life and failed.
As we approach Holocaust Remembrance Day, this is perhaps one of the most important lessons that emerges from this text. The memory of the Holocaust is not just the memory of death. It is also the memory of the desire to live, work, learn, speak Hebrew, immigrate to the Land of Israel, and be part of a different Jewish future. "Hechaluts" in Kobylnik was much more than a youth movement. It was a school for self-respect, responsibility, and hope. Precisely for this reason, when reading this story today, it is clear that the tragedy is not only that lives were cut short, but also that possibilities, dreams, and entire futures were cut short.
Books of remembrance like Kobylnik's book They were written to save names, places, institutions and moments from oblivion. But sometimes they do something even greater. They give figures from the past their voices back. And on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the voice of "Hechalutz" in Kobylnik reminds us that the most fitting memorial for a community that perished is not only to say how it perished, but also to remember how it wanted to live.
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