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Rickey Sprints into Baseball Hall of Fame
For the next few days people from all over the country, and maybe the world, including a bevy of sportswriters will be writing about their favorite Rickey Henderson moments either in stories or in his wild collection of memorable quotes. Henderson along with former Red Sox Jim Rice will be offically inducted today into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Now I will not be there, but you can bet I will as close to a television set as possible during the 2009 Induction Ceremonies to hear the speech that might either shock or amuse baseball for the rest of the year.
Everyone with in and outside of baseball are curious on how Rickey Henderson will refer to himself in his speech, and if he is going to introduce himself. Well, I actually do not think he will introduce himself, but will he pick a opponent like a catcher, or maybe another famous basestealer to do the honors for him today?
But even with the selection of Henderson earlier this year, there are a few things that have me still scratching my head about his selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The biggest surprise to me is the fact that he did not garner more than 94.8 percent of the vote. Now I did not think he was going to challenge Tom Seavers 98.8 percent, but thought he might hit the 96 plateau without a hitch. Could my idea of how well recieved he was in the MLB be a bit inflated, or do some of the baseball purist maybe see this as a time to punish him for his 'third person" theatrics.
So why did some people not put him on their ballot? Didn't this guy change the way we look at slap hitters and guys who put the ball down the line for drag bunts and infield hits and didn't he usher in a new generation of basestealers in the MLB? Come on people, the guy who is the MLB career leader in runs scored and stolen bases by a huge margin is nothing more than a scrub to some BBWAA voters.
Maybe some of the voices are right, maybe we need to tweak this system a bit and weed out some of the naysayers who look more at off the field actions than on the highlights accomplished on the field. There is a difference in being a purist in your columns and heart, and maybe displaying a flaw like voting against a guy who deserves a spot based on your opinions of his career.
Is there any argument that Henderson because of his power and uncany ability to get on base ,could change a games complexity with a single hit or a walk? Do you think that he might be the model for the induction of speed demons in the lead-off spot and not buried down in the 7,8, or 9 slots in a lineup? And do you think that Henderson might have viewed himself like a cartoon character to actually not be bothered by the critics and naysayers who thought he was a destroyer of the game? People use defensive mechanisms for many things, maybe he was before his time in not letting drama and strife destroy himself or his career.
The answer to all three questions is a huge YES.
Henderson did change a pitchering staff's mind when he was on base. It brought into the pitchers' mind that he could steal a base on any pitch, even a pitch-out. It did not matter if it was a 100 mph Fastball, change-up, curve, it made no difference to Henderson, any pitch was a good pitch to steal a base. His power made you respect his plate discipline enough to not try and finesse a pitch up there, or you would be getting a fresh ball from the umpire. Henderson went to the plate 10,961 times in his career.
During his career from 1979 to 2003, Henderson had 3,055 hits, which in its own right should be a good consideration for the Hall of Fame. He hit 510 doubles and 66 triples. I think those numbers might have been a lot higher if he did not get more of a thrill in running and stealing bases on any pitcher that took the mound. I could see him pull up at first or second base just so he could play that cat and mouse game with a pitcher then steal the base on him and give him that grin from the bag. He might be one of the first base runners to actually try to use mind games to disturb a pitcher on the mound.
In his career he had 4,588 total bases. He stole a grand total of 1,406 bases, and only got caught 335 times during his career. That seems like a low mark to be caught stealing, but Henderson made the act of stealing a base into an art form during his career. Think of the totals he would have left with if he had been active in the MLB, even at his advanced age.
From 2000 on, he only appeared in over 100 games with one club. While he was with the San Diego Padres in 2000, he appeared in 123 and still stole 25 bases. But during his last year in the MLB, Henderson was mostly a bench player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and only made it into the game 30 times during the season. He did however steal 3 bases that year in his limited role. But have to remember, not just did he have a few gray hairs by then, but defenses were setting up for him knowing he was in the game to get into scoring position and maybe score the winning run for his team.
I truly feel that the arrogance of stealing a base, along with is knack for sliding around the tags is the reason players like current Tampa Bay Rays speed demons Carl Crawford owe their basestealing careers to Henderson. Before Henderson made it an offensive weapon to truly steal a base with gusto, Lou Brock was the only other base stealer to command as much attention when on base. But Henderson did something none of the other base stealers ever did, he tried to bait pitchers into balks and mis-throws to the plate based on his ability to steal and to take an edge off the team's pitching game.
Henderson changed the lead-off position. Here was a guy who had 2,190 base on balls during his career, and could bring a new dimension to the game with four pitched balls. Every walk he was ever issued looked more like a doubler to him because he could steal a base and get into scoring position at any moment. Henderson also could hit the long ball. Lost in a lot of the translation into his base stealing is the fact he did hit 297 home runs in his career, mostly from the lead-off position. So as you can see, New York Met's shortstop, Jose Reyes also owes a big round of applause to Henderson in making it fashionable to get dirty stealing bases in the MLB.
Now for why Henderson always talked about himself in the third-person. Some people have commented that it was a defense mechanism devised by someone for Henderson because it made his character on the field different than the man in the clubhouse after the game. It left him into a secondary world to rant, rave and just be "Rickey" while he wore the team's colors. This might or might not be true, but if you really think about the image of being able to put your work suit on and take the punishments and the abuse while you are working, then shed those insults, opinions and wild lies when you toss them in the clothes hamper to be washed, it make a bit of sense.
Who among us would not relish a secondary personality or a persona that we could use at work and toss aside and forget the troubles and strife in a moments notice. This might not be the true reason for his third-person antics, but it does make good conversation for the next few months. But the antics and the stories concerning Henderson are many and both base in legend and in folly.
But one of the best ones I ever heard was from a Oakland area sports story that told the story about the Oakland A's front office finding a financial mistake in their bookkeeping. It was showing that the team had a million dollars more than it was suppose to have in it's coffers. After a series of check and double checks, it was concluded that they had only one conclusion to this error. A member of the Athletics management went down into the locker room and found Henderson and asked what he did with the $ 1 million dollar check the team had issued to him. Henderson remarked that he put the check under glass. Never cashed it, never even thought of the down the road consequences of the actions, just did what "Rickey" would do.
I have a story of my own about Henderson based in 1984. I was a newly drafted snot nosed kid who came out to see a friend, Scott Hemond who was catching for the Oakland A's at the time. I was in the locker room after a game and saw Henderson right before he left for the night. He was dressed to the nines, and I strolled up and introduced myself as a friend of Hemond's and just wanted to tell him what a joy it was to watch him play baseball.
He remarked how " Rickey was happy he liked his personal style of play, but that Rickey did not like to associate with friends of catchers'." It took me a second before I started to laugh and then remarked that was why I like "Ricky", he was wihtout a doubt not predictable or even in the same league as the rest of us. I saw him a few hours later when we went out to dinner, and Henderson came over and finally shook my hand and sat for a few moments talking to Hemond and some other players' at the table.
He finally got up and remarked to me, " I hear you are fast?" I told him I could hold my own between the hash marks and on a 440 yard track. And then Henderson remarked, " Guess you never tried to push the bases around." I only remarked that I played baseball from about 6 years old to college, but was never a demon on the base paths like him. Henderson in perfect "Rickey" form just muttered, " There is only one Rickey, and he is leaving the building." I let out a huge belly laugh and pointed to him acknowledging his comment.
He was right, there is only one "Rickey." No matter if you loved the way he played, or hated him for the flamboyant personality. The ability of this guy to get into a team's head mentally made for a really exclusive career. Thank goodness he is not the only one getting inducted on that Summer day. After his speech we will all need time to collect ourselves and get serious again. I do not know who will introduce him at the podium, but maybe he should research his stolen bases and find the pitcher he stole the most bases off of in his career.
The moment that guy steps to the mic, I will be glued to the television set watching him. Not since Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr gave their speeches when inducted have I waited for such a moment to happen. Those two men gave memorable speeches for different reasons. But you know that the world, and the entire baseball community are awaiting the final appearance of "Rickey" in all his glory and gruff. It will be an historical event that you do not want to miss. Got to remember to TIVO that introduction.
6 Comments
Ricky was definately a game changer. Crawford has that same ability.
I heard Joe Morgon once talk about the two. He said the only difference Henderson's first step/excelleration was much quicker than Crawford, where Crawford topped out at a much higher speed in stride.
It is always fun to compare baserunners to cars, so its like comparing a Lamborgini to a muscle car … Pontiac GTO maybe.
I remember in HS there was this sprinter named Nate Johnson who got out of the blocks like lightning, but fades before the line. I used to catch up to him at the 90 yards mark.
I think Rickey and CC have that same scenario going for them.
Rickey is a sprinter, and CC is more of a 220 guy.
By the way, CC is more of a Plymouth Road Runner with a Superbird spoiler.
Got to love American muscle cars
Rays Renegade
Cliff, They were talking about the ceremony last night during the Red Sox game. According to Don Orsillo, Rickey spent a week with a group of college students (I don't remember if he said if they journalism students or not) and he had go over and critic the speech he will be giving tomorrow. I'll be at Fenway during the ceremony – I hope they will have some of Jim Rice's speech on the jumbotron – but I'll have to catch Rickey's later.
I still think it is going to be such fun to hear that Introduction speech. I wonder who will introduce him………….maybe M C Hammer since he was the A's batboy back then.
Jim Rice's speech is also going to be a great sentimental journey though Boston legend.
Thank goodness for DVR's.
Rays Renegade
I loved your story about meeting Rickey. So funny that he spoke about himself in the third person even in casual conversation with you. I agree that he's in a category all his own and there's never been anyone quite like him. I always found him thrilling to watch. You just knew he was driving the pitchers nuts!
Btw, great comeback by the Rays today. Amazing.
First the last two games have been Pepto-Bismol commercials for most Rays fans.
I have loved it to death the last two days. Both extra innings games with wild endings.
I keep telling people that I have lived a bit more than most people earlier in my life, but people think it is fake until I write the stories.
Best thing about that weekend in Oakland was seeing a few ex-Raider players I knew in the stands and eating in the Hague neighborhood in San Francisco.
I know if anyone understands the stories that are unbelieveable, it is you.
Rays Renegade


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Norma,When I was researching molasses, I read that the lighter molasses has the most sugar. I believe that the lighter molasses remains after the first boiling, and that the supermarket brands that we have been using remain after the second boiling. Blackstrap molasses is what remains after the third boiling. Maybe we could use more of the supermarket brands of liquid molasses but then the color would be darker and the flavor of molasses would be more intense. Hopefully the ADM 65 DMP will be what we are looking for. I also saw that from patents that drying of molasses was quite common in the 1970s and even sooner. Typically starches were used as part of the drying process. To this day, starches are used. Many, if not most, of ADM's dry molasses products use starch. In ADM's case, it is wheat starch.Peter
Norma,The original description of the ADM 65 DMP product says that it is tan-colored whereas the material you just posted says that the product imparts a dark color. Sometimes a material in bulk can look much darker than a thin layer of the same material. Would you mind putting a thin layers of the two ADM DMP products on a sheet of white paper and tell us if the ADM 65 DMP product is lighter in color than the ADM 4000 DMP product?Peter
Hey y'all!Sorry I've been absent for a few days. . I was on the road, but as luck would have it, I was able to stop by a MM store in Farragut TN (I believe that'd be the mailing address).I took some pics of the crust of my 10'' Mega Veggie, made without cheese or butter or parm on the crust. I think you will see that the color is about the same as Norma's pics, and to my own eyes it's basically identical to what I've been producing.But this whole little adventure has taught me one thing - taste buds are odd little things! This MM pizza did not seem to be as sweet as the one I had in Franklin a few weeks ago. But is that real or imagined?? Who knows! One possible difference is that the waiter at the Farragut store affirmed 100% that their dough arrives frozen on trucks. When I asked in Franklin if it was made onsite or shipped in frozen, they said "a little of both." Not sure what that means. But this most recent real MM pie crust actually tasted pretty similar to my last attempt if my taste bud memory is accurate. The crumb texture and structure also seemed to me to be very close to my last attempt.Another thing I noticed was that this pie had a lot of cornmeal, and it seemed to be of a different variety than I have at home. The MM cornmeal seemed to be more of a yellow cornmeal that was coarser. The stuff I have is mostly white-looking and powdery. It seemed to me that the cornmeal on the MM pie actually gave it a slightly sweet "corny" flavor (which I enjoyed). I think I have seen other types of cornmeal at retail and may try something different.I also tasted the kids's pizza that they ordered, which had the standard butter and parm on the rim. First, the butter was definitely garlic in this case (at my last visit I didn't taste much garlic if any). Secondly, it occurred to me that of course butter does have a slightly sweet taste to it. I am not getting that flavor at home because I am using salty butter substitutes.But the bottom line at this point is that I'm just really perplexed at the sweetness issue. I'm not sure if it's my taste buds that can't be trusted or if the doughs at the 2 different MM stores were truly different.I did also scan the posts since my last post, and I saw something that made me think a bit. . ..It is true in my experience that the lighter molasses is sweeter than the darker varieties. Blackstrap molasses, for example, has very little sweetness in my opinion. So one possible way to make it sweeter without changing the color is to just use more of a lighter molasses variety.I have had daydreams of staking-out the nashville commissary to try to see if I can determine what kinds of ingredients are being used, but that might be hazardous to my health!
Norma,You raise some good points about the ADM Dri-mol products. When I first found the ADM website on their sweeteners, I was first attracted to the Dri-mol products. It was only after talking with the ADM sales rep and explaining the pizza dough application that he suggested going with the two dry molasses powders that you now have. If the ADM 65 DMP doesn't do the trick, then you might want to try the Dri-mol products you referenced if you are up to it.I also noticed that just about all of the recipes for baked goods at the ADM website that call for one of their dried molasses powders also call for another form of sugar. This begs the question as to whether dry molasses powder alone is enough. If you'd like to proceed with the ADM 65 DMP product and need a dough formulation, let me know. I think I would be aggressive with the amount of that molasses powder, if only to see if it is possible to get sufficient sweetness with only the dry molasses powder.Peter
I wanted to ask you a question about raw or unrefined sugar, and if that would fit the profile of MMs operations not using refined sugar in their dough, as they mentioned at http://mellowmushroom.com/public/old_site1/aboutus.html Raw or unrefined sugar still has some molasses in it as I understand.
Norma,That is a good question. In fact, before I mentioned raw cane sugar to you in an earlier post I did some research on the subject. As you know, raw cane sugar is made by crystallizing the initial pressing of 100% pure sugar cane and, indeed, it does contain a small amount of molasses. The impression I got is that it takes a fair amount of additional processing beyond the first pressing to arrive at what we commonly call "refined" table sugar. It also appears that raw cane sugar is sold under the name "turbinado" sugar. I have a bag of Imperial Sugar Gold'N Natural turbinado sugar and the package uses expressions like "made from natural cane" to emphasize the natural and purportedly "healthier" and more "wholesome" form of that sugar. The leading brand of turbinado sugar is Sugar in the Raw. You might also be interested in knowing that the Sugar in the Raw brand of turbinado sugar was first introduced in 1974, the year that MM was formed: http://www.jlwfoodsales.com/principal_profile.cfm?id=167. So, raw cane sugar has been around for a very long time. I even wondered whether MM might be using only raw cane sugar in its doughs. However, even though the turbinado sugar is tan colored, I think it would take too much of that sugar to get the desired degree of coloration of MM's dough balls. Also, I think it would be too thin a reed on which to base a claim that the dough contains molasses, with the implication that it is more than just a hint of it.Of all of the "unrefined" "natural" forms of sweeteners, I would say that raw cane sugar may be the least expensive and with more stable pricing over time (unlike honey whose pricing and supply has been wildly erratic). So, if one were to use another form of natural sugar to complement molasses in a pizza dough in a commercial commissary setting, raw cane sugar would be my first choice. All marketing hype aside, I think that one can make out a case that raw cane sugar is not a "refined" sugar. At least I think that such a position is defensible enough to support a claim that MM is not using refined sugar in the dough and would be in line with the claims and language used by the producers of raw cane sugar in their promotion of raw cane sugar. As far as the ADM 65 DMP product is concerned, I think I would give it a test drive since you already have it. I would perhaps try a combination of that product and raw cane sugar. If you would like me to come up with an MM test dough formulation to play around with, let me know. Peter

subset: commoncrawl


text: Hey all, exciting times depending on your perspective, anyway, found this photo and wondered if anyone had seen it? I couldn't see it up here so perhaps not. Those bridge uniforms you can see in the background look very Robau'ish era, is the ship that looks like the Enterprise in the trailers from a previous era that somehow moved forward in time (to be explained in the film)? Is the film dealing with changes to the timeline as a consequence of Nero's actions, a continuing variation on cause and effect? Maybe it is! Apologies to admins if the link is somehow in violation of the T's and C's so please feel free to modify if I've done it wrong but the photo is very interesting, I guess this is the ship we see Harrison sat in the Captains chair in the first trailer as the dark colours are reflected in this shot. http://geektyrant.com/news/2013/3/30/more-new-photos-from-star-trek-into-darkness.html


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June 26, 2012 - As was reported yesterday, Roddy Peters took part in a morning, DC Assault training session. He and other players were run through their paces by 17-under DCA head coach, Eddie Jordan, a man used to working with quality players, given his National Basketball Association assistant and head coach experience.
But Peters, a 6'3"- plus, Class of 2013 guard was not the only player there getting Hoya recruiting love - also participating was Romello 'Melo' Trimble. A 6'2", Class of 2014 backcourt guy, Trimble is known for his shooting prowess, whether from long distance or midrange. Increasingly he's more competent patting the rock in open court situations, illustrating trending a true combo guard utilization in college.
In the above-linked i95Ballerz.com article, Trimble's current college listing was revealed. The same goes for a pair of soon-to-be Massanhutten Military School (VA) transfers, including Ahmad Fields and Rashard Kelly. Kelly used to attend Bishop O'Connell (VA), while Fields was a student at Blue Ridge (VA).
Joining them at Massanhutten will be Damonte Dodd, a Class of 2012 center previously committed to Maryland. Dodd is classified as a post-grad student who also plays for DC Assault.
On Premium Court, subscribers have access to:
- Trimble's development focus
- How he developed his quick shooting release
- Why he has embraced the midrange game
- Thoughts on pickup with college players
- How he views G'Town's system
- His possible fit at Georgetown
Be sure to check back with HoyaReport.com for more on Trimble, Peters and other Hoya recruiting targets.


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So hi all.
I've read the thread about the books,but many users had many different suggestions.
I am beginner,I haven't experience with programming. I study C++ programing in school and its very hard for me.
Can you please tell me a good book for BEGINNER without experience with any programming language :).
Thanks in advance.
PS:Could somebody tell me what he thinks about Stroustrup's book Programming principle and practice using C++?
PS 2:If I have mistakes - sorry about my English. : )


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I seem to recall pudge [perl.org] pointing out repeatedly last year the matter of enforcing U.N. resolutions (1205, 1194, and more).
Of course, there's the matter of U.N. resolutions against Israel, but I like to get around that by claiming the U.N. is institutionally incapable of making an intelligent decision there.
The resolutions are an argument in favor of the war and I was considering bringing that up but it seemed such a weak argument that I decided to focus on the "bad man" argument. The UN issue is a curious one. The US often ignores World Court rulings, ignores treaties (in violation of the US Constitution, I might add) and harsh UN rulings against our allies are often vetoed by us. Thus, any argument that our country -- which repeatedly flouts the rule of international law and blocks its application against
I still fail to see a problem. Sometimes the interests of the U.S. (ahh, metonymy) align with those of the U.N. Sometimes they don't. International sovereignty, blah blah, why does the U.S. get a vote if disagreement is bad, blah blah.
The "bad man argument" is just stupid. If I claimed that the 1993 Mogadishu action was just Clinton trying to impress a dumpy fat chick, it'd also be simplistic.
I do agree that the U.S. has supported a lot of terrible people and makes alliances with some really shady g
I'm not sure if you'd prefer that the executive branch waits for perfect action, motives, and information before acting.
No, I certainly don't think that's reasonable. However, I would argue that supporting blatantly immoral behavior while claiming a moral high ground can undermine support from the international community. While many nations routinely suffer from such hypocricy, to pre-emptively attack another country based upon it is a far more serious thing than condemning behavior while tacitly supp


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DODGERS () at PADRES ()
Time: 7:10 p.m. Game 3 of 3
TV: Fox Sports San Diego
Radio: 1090-AM, 860-AM (Spanish)
Today's matchup
Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
The Dodgers signed Greinke, 29, to a six-year, $147 million contract last Dec. 10. That is $20 million more than the Padres entire payroll for the 2012-2013 seasons. Greinke has a 92-78 career record with a 3.76 ERA in 272 games (231 starts). He faced the Padres once before while pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. This will be his debut at Petco Park. In his first start as a Dodger, Greinke shut out Pittsburgh on two hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Padres RHP Jason Marquis (0-1, 3.00 ERA)
Marquis, 34, ranks second among active pitchers in National League wins with 110. He is seven behind Ryan Dempster and four ahead of Tim Hudson. Marquis has a career 112-110 record with a 4.60 ERA in 348 games (289 starts). Marquis was victimized by both the Padres offense and defense in his first start of the season at Colorado last Friday. Marquis allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits in six innings in a 5-2 loss. Two of the hits were home runs. He is 6-4 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 2.58 ERA in 15 games (14 starts)
Looking Ahead
Friday: Rockies RHP Jon Garland (1-0, 3.00 ERA) at Padres RHP Tyson Ross (0-1, 4.50 ERA), 7:10 p.m.
Saturday: Rockies RHP Jhoulys Chacin (1-0, 1.35 ERA) at Padres RHP Edinson Volquez (0-2, 10.00 ERA), 5:40 p.m.
Sunday: Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (0-0, 8.31 ERA) at Padres LHP Clayton Richard (0-1, 8.68 ERA), 1:10 p.m.


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Supporters of America's continuing "war on drugs" like to scare the rest of us into pursuing the same path that the nation's governments have been taking for decades – ratcheting up police interdiction efforts, imprisoning drug users and pushing the envelope on government snooping to intercept drug dealers and their cash.
If we don't follow this path, we're warned, an epidemic of drug use and lawlessness will sweep the nation. Yet many of the drug-related problems the nation faces – gang wars and crime waves in particular – are the result of government prohibition and crackdown on drugs, not drugs themselves.
Drugs, obviously, are bad, but the current cop-and-incarceration model pushes out more humane and compassionate treatment-based alternatives for addicts. It's not as if people aren't using drugs right now even though they are illegal, and there's scant evidence that decriminalizing, or even legalizing, them will make an appreciable difference in the number of regular users.
A video, "The Haunting Math of America's War on Drugs," posted on the website of Popular Science magazine and provided by the Clarity Way drug rehab center, using federal statistics, illustrates that the drug war itself is a frightening problem. The math is incontrovertible. For instance, 51.5 percent of the nation's federal prisoners were sentenced for drug offenses.
Drug warriors like to argue that mere possession of drugs rarely results in jail time, but the data suggest otherwise. Nearly 82 percent of arrests for drug-law violations in 2010 were for drug possession.
Significantly cutting back arrest rates, and transferring some of that money toward drug treatment, would be a boon for the state budget, especially given the data showing that people who complete drug treatment programs are 67 percent less-likely to return to prison. We would argue for privatized treatment programs, often more effective than government-run ones.
Yet the drug war continues. With the Obama administration pursuing its crackdown on medical marijuana clinics and opposing state legalization efforts, now is a great time to add more facts and less fear into the debate.


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I re-installed the ZoneAlarm Security Suite and
am able to connect to the internet again, but I am not able to retrieve email from Firefox.
It appears that .js files are blocked.
I am now
required to use
Internet Explorer to check email.
Internet Zone is set to Medium.
Any suggestions?
Operating System:Windows XP Pro
Product Name:ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite


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[Page 42]
One June 22, 1941, early in the morning, we awoke to the thunder of German artillery fire. We quickly ran out into the open fields where we saw the retreating Russian troops machine-gunned by German fighter planes. We sought shelter in the trenches dug by the roadside.
After the attack subsided we returned to town where we found the hoards of invading Nazi troops plundering and looting our homes, threatening to shoot anyone who attempted to show any sign of resistance.
Later in the day came the S.S. units covering the area systematically, taking with them all Jewish males for compulsory labor. That was our first day under Nazi occupation.
From then on, during the first seven months of Nazi rule it became a daily routine to round up all able-bodied Jews to do the most menial and difficult work for the Germans. Then came the order to build the Ghetto walls around a very restricted area of the town, where all the Jews were to be crowded. There was to be no exit or entrance, except by special permission. So began the life of misery, fear and horror of our first year in the Ghetto. We already experienced cold, hunger and constant terror but there was yet no sign of mass extermination. Reports from other Ghettos of evacuation and mass murder reached us and we had a feeling that one of these days it would also be our turn. One day we were told that the Germans in our vicinity were mobilizing over a hundred vehicles for the transfer of Jews. We now assumed that this was meant for our town and everybody in the Ghetto nearly went mad for fear of his life and the lives of his dear ones. Some among us made up their minds to run for safety before the fatal day of liquidation.
One evening I took my mother and sister, also my sister-in-law and her two boys, to the farmhouse of a friendly Polish family, while the men folks still remained at home. Late that night, my sister-in-law with her two boys returned home saying that she cannot bear the separation from her family, come what may.
That night no one in the Ghetto could sleep. Everybody was making plans to escape; only the older folks and little children had to stay behind. At two o'clock in the morning we left the Ghetto and stopped at a barn. We tried to find a safer place at the house of neighboring Christians, but none of them were ready to take us in.
Returning to the barn we could hear the lorries of the S.S. units nearing the Ghetto and their shooting. My younger brother came out of the barn but not the older one. I was told that he went into the Ghetto to try and rescue his family. The three of us ran out into the fields, while the shooting was still going on. After running about two kilometers from town, I told one of my older brothers to go back to the farmhouse we were in the night before and bring our mother and two sisters. The plan was to bring them to the house of another farmer who once promised to let us in, while Zechariah and I went over to our friend Chapke. He accepted us cordially, but I could not relish his friendship, being much worried about what was happening to our fellow Jews who escaped the besieged Ghetto. From the window at which I was standing, I could see the fields covered with scattered groups of old Jews, mothers and their children, running aimlessly in all directions. I came out to ask them what was happening and I was told that the Germans and their subordinates, the Ukrainians, were robbing and murdering Jews, and that many of those who tried to escape were shot to death. Hearing these reports we thought it would be better for us, too, if we left the friendly house and keep on running. So we asked our host to tell our brothers, and those of our family that were with him, that we were going to wait for them at the farm of another Polish acquaintance about 3 kilometers down the road.
When, however, we came to this farmer Michael he didn't even let us into the house. So we had to go on. We only asked him to tell anyone asking about us that we were on our way, not knowing exactly where we would be.
We ran like rabbits in the field, now separated from family and friends. We came to another farmhouse about 4 kilometers from the former place and asked for the owner. His wife told us that he was drafted with his horse and wagon to take Jews out of the Ghetto, and she refused to let us in. We didn't even ask her for some food. Utterly exhausted we decided to climb up the attic and hide there even without the woman's permission. We were fast asleep when I heard the owner calling me by name. When my brother and I came down, we were surprised to see the table set for us and we didn't stand on ceremonies. We assumed that the farmer would now let us stay on, but he explained to us that it would be impossible to keep us, as all his neighbors around were plain murders and our lives would be in danger. We begged him to have consideration but he insisted that we leave at once, admonishing us not to return. We couldn't even finish our breakfast and left at once.
It was a dark, rainy night and we had no other place to go. Yet we knew that one must not lose hope even at such a dark moment. We thought that now it would be best to find some hideout in the fields for the whole family. So we came back to our old farmer Michael, who first did not let us into his house, to inquire about the other members of our family. He was even less friendly than yesterday and told us that our brothers and others came by his house yesterday, but he didn't know where they went. Our renewed request for shelter was answered with a flat, no!
The hour was late and we were afraid to remain in the open fields, so we went to the nearby village of Kotchere; There we crept into a hayloft and tried to have some sleep. In the early hours of the morning we heard someone open the door and people creeping into the loft. We thought that these were German patrols in search of Jews.
It turned out that these were Jews who also stole into the place. We thought we heard them whisper in Yiddish but we were not sure. Then we heard them more clearly and recognized the voices of our neighbors. They too were frightened but were happy to see us. These were two families. One of the couples was absolutely heartbroken because their baby was left back in the ghetto. They were originally from a town named Wishkow and ran from there to our town, because they thought that in our Ghetto, being part of the Bialistok region, would be safer. The other family was the Ledermans, the father, Shlomo, the mother, Ethel and their sons Mendel, Froiehe and Pessach and a girl, Ilka. Ancher son Avrumche, remained in the Ghetto, and they considered him lost.
We asked them if they got permission from the owner, and they said that he had agreed after much begging. So we begged them not to tell him about us. The whole day we were worried about our mother and the others of our family. I had a feeling that they were now exposed to danger for we could hear constant shooting all around and we thought that they were shooting at our family.
In the evening, I told the people in the barn that I was going back to look for the rest of the family. They asked me where I was going to bring them, and I replied that I was going to bring them here to the barn. They said they couldn't agree to have so many of us here, for it would he dangerous. They even tried to dissuade me from going out at all, arguing that the chances for two are better than for the whole family.
I didn't listen to them for I felt that we would rather perish together than be rescued alone... So I went out into the dark, determined to find my family and bring them back to the barn.
Again we went to see our old friend Chapke. In his house we found some Jews in hiding, but just then we heard some shooting and Chapke told us to run into the woods. There we found some other Jews in hiding. I asked what they planned to do, and they replied that they could see no other way but putting themselves at the mercy of the Germans.
There was a young mother with two babies, one three years old and another six months old. She had nothing to feed them with and she was crying bitterly. It was horrible. I passed by another farm and inquired about my family. I was told that they were there a while ago, asking for bread. The same report I got from another farmer. So I went into the woods to look for them. I saw some human figures running away from us and I had a feeling that they were Jews. I caught up to them and indeed they were of my family. They thought the Germans were after them and were scared stiff. They were so frightened that they could not hear my calls in Yiddish.
Now we were together again and could retell in detail what happened during the past two days. We began to go back to our hideout in the barn but we had to walk slowly on account of mother. As we were nearing the village we overheard someone speaking German so we ran back to the woods. Again we lost each other on the run. I was with my two sisters, while mother was with my brothers.
We hid behind some bushes waiting to hear if someone was really after us. We were also hoping to see our mother that was left behind. So we remained till daybreak and went back to our hideout. We waited all day thinking of mother and the brothers. Then, as soon as it got dark again I went out alone to look for them. The first house I came into to ask for bread, I found my brother Gershon, who also came to buy bread.
Gershon told me the horrible story of the family Karshenstein, who were hiding in the nearby forest. It appears that a Pole observed them and reported their hideout to the German patrol. They were found and shot on the spot. But the mother with the youngest son, were only wounded. They fell down with the others and when the Germans went away tried to get up and escape. The same Pole, who reported them before, now took them over to the Germans, who this time finally killed them.
Only two sons of this family survived the slaughter because they weren't with the family at the moment. (18 months later, a week after the Red Army recaptured Bialistok, the oldest son Kesil, avenged the blood of his murdered family, shooting the treacherous Pole's entire family).
Together with my older brother I went to our last hiding place to bring all our family to the barn where my sisters were. It was a cold winter night and we were not dressed warmly. On the following morning we again went to our old acquaintance Chapke begging him to let us stay on his farm, we were ready to pay with some valuables we still rescued from our house. This time he agreed after much supplication, and it appeared that he had about twenty other Jews hiding in his barns.
Our bunker was just under the floor of the main farmhouse. It was so narrow that we had no room to sit there. We had to lie quietly for fear of being discovered. One day, we heard Lazar Resnik who came with other Jews of our town, and asked our master to give them shelter. They were refused and had to go away. Half an hour later our master told us that those seven Jews were shot by a German patrol.
We learned later that this group of Jews arranged a small bunker in the woods, about 300 meters from where we were hiding. One of them, Lazer Resnik asked our host for shelter. With him were two brothers and a sister of Golzeker family, two fellows who escaped from the Warsaw ghetto and another boy. They were just about to fix their hideout when they were noticed by a Pole who reported them to the Germans. They came right out and were brutally murdered. Five of them, a girl and a boy, succeeded to escape, but a mounted S.S. man chased after them and murdered them. also.
We were now twenty persons in our hideout; six of our family, six of the Drogetsky family, the family Perzak and a couple named Gail. After a few days we were notified by the owner that the place was suspected by the Germans and we had to leave for less conspicuous places in the fields.
We went back to the bunker where we were hiding before, but the families we left there were not there. After a few days we returned to Chapke. He agreed to let us in provided that we find our own food.
So we had no choice but to go out and look for provisions. Roaming about the countryside we heard of the many tragic stories of extermination, such as the tragic story of Selig and and his son who jumped the death train to Treblinka and was shot by the Germans, also the death of Yankel Kristol and of two families killed in the village of Pitkevich.
Once on the way back to our new hideout we saw a young fellow who jumped the train to Treblinka and we asked him if he had seen there our oldest brother Noah. He said no and suggested that our brother might still be hiding in the Ghetto. This assumption was verified by another report the next day, that our brother was still in hiding in the cellar of our house in town.
In the evening, we set out to rescue our brother, Noah, but we couldn't go into the heavily guarded Ghetto. So we went to the man who spoke to him the other day when he came to buy bread. He was a farmer we knew, who received us rather cordially and verified the report about our brother who came to see him recently.
Just as we were talking, there was a knocking on the door and we ran into the other room. Two Polish policemen who came to search for Jews entered the house. One of them opened he door to the room we were in. He asked why we ran away from the Ghetto and not waiting for a reply began to beat my brother, who immediately punched him in the face. The other policeman was at the door ready to jump at us. My brother pushed him off and ran out into the street now chased by the others of the patrol who fired revolver shots at him. I jumped out of the window and at that moment didn't even feel the deep cut on my forehead when I broke the glass of the windowpane. Only after I ran about 3 kilometers, I felt that my face was hot and blood was gushing from the cut.
A friendly peasant took me into his house, let me wash the blood and gave me some bread. I was going back to where our family was hiding, but didn't know how to tell them about my brother Gershon, whom I thought already dead. I decided to pass by the house of our patron and how happy I was to find there my brother, who luckily escaped a certain death.
A few days later we discovered three of our cousins who escaped from the Ghetto. From them we got the sad news about friends and relatives killed, in and outside the town. We heard how Aaron Liberman, Hershl Shenintzer, Yoel Litman, and Simcha Bloomstein were killed, as they were trying to escape. We were also told how Polish peasants cooperated with the Nazi murderers, reporting all Jews who came within their sight.
We were especially moved by the tragic story of a young couple: Baruch Drogishinsky, and his young bride-to-be, Haya Semiatisky, who were hiding in the cellars of the church for three days without any food and just as they were coming out in search of some bread they were shot by German officers.
Two weeks passed since our first unsuccessful attempt to get in touch with our brother Noah, who remained at home within the Ghetto. I felt we ought to do something to save him but didn't know how. Then one night another fellow and myself decided to go back and find out from Christian friends who lived nearby what was happening. We didn't dare attempt to enter the Ghetto after our first failure, so we went to certain houses on the outskirts of the town.
Just as I was about to enter a house, I saw one of the Polish neighbors accompanied by a German, approaching the place. I made a dash for a safe hiding and again returned without results. Later that evening the fellow who went with me returned from town. He brought us the detailed report of my brother's tragic death. He thought that we already knew.
We were struck as if by thunder. We mourned for our dear brother, but knew there was nothing that could be done now. We even knew the name of the murdererone named Krubel. This man took over our house, after the Germans plundered all Jewish belongings and after discovering my brother in the cellar delivered him to the Nazi authorities. We were told that he was taken out into the open and made to put on a talit and tephilin, then shot and buried just 3 meters from our door. His full name was Noah Velvel, his wife and two boys were taken away to the Treblinka extermination center.
We were now in bitter grief and mourning over the death of our brother. Yet we had no choice but go on with our daily struggle for existence. We had to go out in search of bread from day to day.
One day at the house of a Polish peasant from whom we got some bread we met the Bloch family. After so many months of seclusion and hiding we were very happy to see fellow Jews. We promised to assist them in getting out some of their belongings from the ghetto. But when we came back to see them two days later we were told that they were already dead. They were murdered by a German patrol, when they were about to change their hideout from one farm to another.
On that same day the Germans killed many other Jews who were hiding in the nearby groves. It was reported that after the Germans killed these Jews, the Poles would take off their clothes and hurry them on the same spot.
Wet were also told the story of mother Liebson and her daughter, who were chased out of the house where they were hiding and caught by the Germans, who killed and buried them immediately. The owner of the farm dug up their grave, took off their clothes and shoes and buried them a second time.
Returning to our hideout, I was hesitating whether I should tell about all these tragic events around us; But my family recognized immediately how horrified and despondent I was - so I had to tell them all I knew Needless to say that they were also terrified, sensing the haplessness of our struggle for survival.
A few weeks later our host told us point blank that he could not keep us any longer, unless we would pay him. Since we had no money, we had to go.
We separated from our cousins, became a group of 9 persons no one would consider giving shelter. So we again went into the open fields in search of a new hideout. Towards night we crept into a hayloft, but in the morning the owner came to fetch some hay and ordered us to leave. We sat there on the bare frozen ground, so that people would not notice us. Later in the day the same Polish farmer came out to tell us that he would let my mother, sister and our youngest brother stay but the older brothers should go elsewhere. At first we had no reason to suspect any evil intentions on his part so we accepted his proposal to leave part of the family on his farm. Only a little later, as we were already sitting in a nearby house I heard my sister's cry for help. She was half-naked, barefoot and horror stricken. It appeared that just as they came back to the barn the owner entered and forced them to take their shoes and overcoats off, threatening to kill them if they refused. Then he chased them out into the open fields. We ran out to find them and brought them into the warm house where we covered their feet with rags. But this place was only temporary. We had to leave and didn't know where. I left the family in another barn and went in search of a new shelter with some benevolent farmer. The one we found now agreed to let us stay only for a few days. He even prepared a warm bath for us.
One day as I was out in search of provisions I heard again of murder and death. This time it was about the family Pentzak, the Ledermans, and our own kin, the cousins who were hiding with us only a few weeks ago. They were discovered and brutally murdered by two policemen, a Polish one named Wrotkovsky and a German named Frank. Golde, Mordechai and Hannah were shot, while their parents Gershon and Motel Lev, found their death in Treblinka.
We were now six people huddled in a narrow underground hole about 2 meters long. We could hardly stretch out, but there was nothing we could do there except wait for the night to come. Yet we felt that it was better than being exposed to the dangers in open fields.
It was already early spring, before Passover, and being observant Jews we even made plans how to manage not to eat chometz (unleavened bread) during the eight days of the holiday. In this regard we were helped by a friendly Catholic farmer named Senchina, who gave us all we needed for a Seder meal except Matzot. Thus we celebrated the traditional Seder in the dark underground cell, chanting the traditional prayer of Jewish hope: "Leshana Habbah Biyerushalayim."
During the following weeks many of our fellow Jews perished in and around our place of hiding. In the village of Boyake, the Jews hiding there, were delivered to the German Gendarmerie. On a nearby farm the brothers Goldwasser actually suffocated in their underground bunker. A similar fate befell also the Blumstein family who were discovered and killed after they left their two children with a peasant family. Also the Klepatsky family with their eight young children were all shot to death. The Silbermans and the Zukermans who managed to hide in the woods for some time, later perished at the hands of Poles and Germans. There was not a day without some casualty.
So we went on from day to day, for weeks and months. There were days of sorrow and hopelessness, as we saw our numbers dwindling. Then there were rare days of hope, when the Germans began to get their blows and first real setbacks on the Russian front.
We learned from bitter experience to prepare our next hideout, just in case the present one became suspect. We learned to live with fear. On Thursday nights we would get our provisions for Sabbath.
Once on such a Thursday night when my brother Gershon and I came out to do our usual "shopping", we saw a suspicious figure at a distance. We had a hunch that he was watching us and we tried to avoid him.
Further down the road we saw two human figures who seemed to run away from us as we were approaching, probably because they thought we were Germans chasing them. We tried to call them in Yiddish and they finally understood that we too were Jews. They stopped to wait for us. They were of our town: Ethel Lederman and her daughter Itka, whose husband and father together with his two sons, were shot only a few weeks ago. They told us of their plight, having no regular hiding place. We didn't ask them where they were hiding now, for in those days, no Jew would tell another one where he was staying, because when the Germans caught a Jew they would make him tell all he knew about Jews around.
When we came back to our family and reported whom we saw we were all rather disturbed about our own safety. Early next morning we heard the heavy gait of military boots overhead and the horribly German command: "Raus, Verfluchte Juden!" (Get out damned Jews). Through a slit in the wooden floor we could see the German patrol dragging Ethel and Itka from their hideout, which was right near us. Then we heard two shots and saw how they fell down. The Germans ordered he Poles to bury them while they continued to search for more Jews. Now it turned out that the Germans got the report of the other hideouts and although they went on with their search they did not discover us.
We had a narrow escape his time but could not bear the thought of remaining at the same place, near the fresh grave. So we moved to another bunker which we had already prepared at a farm of a woman named Savitzka, but without her knowledge.
The new hideout was even smaller and narrower than the previous one. We actually had to creep into it. Then we camouflaged the entrance with stones. This one too was under a granary and we could hear the heavy gait of the farm-workers over our heads all day long. At night no one was around and we had a chance to go elsewhere, but we didn't dare move.
In the morning a dog smelled us out and began to bark. The owner came by, but didn't find us. Only in the evening a woman came by and called us to go out. We didn't reply. Later she came again and ordered us to leave or else she would call the German police. As we were going out she met us with curses and insults. It was most discouraging to hear such words from a woman who only recently used to do business with us. But we were already used to such insults and could not be hurt any more.
That night we again spent in the open fields, soaked to the bone by heavy rain. When it began to dawn we were near an open cellar full of potatoes, cabbages and carrots. So we walked in, thinking to spend the day there until the next evening. We realized that we were exposed to danger, for we were trespassing private property, without permission.
At noon another peasant woman noticed us but said nothing. An hour later the owner himself came. He was another acquaintance of ours whose name was Kasik Koshinsky. A1though he appeared to be friendly he was rather afraid of his own life, if he'd let us- stay. So he brought us water and food but asked us imploringly to leave his premises and hide in the nearby brushwood on the rim of a cornfield.
We had no alternative but do as he told us, and remained that day and the following night in the open fields. We were now envious of the farm animals grazing freely in the sunny pastures, while we humans, had to hide for fear of being spotted by other human beings like us only of another race. We, then, bowed our heads in shame of being members of the human species!
We were again roaming the fields, hiding in ditches by day, trying to find food during the night. Once at the house of a farmer who was willing to sell us some bread I met a Jew who told us he was hiding in a nearby forest. He told us some more horror stories of families we knew recently murdered, either by Germans or by their Polish neighbors.
From him I heard of an old couple: David and Maya Kristol, who escaped from that Ghetto after the evacuation. Although they were already past seventy they didn't want to end their lives in the gas chambers. I recall having once met them in the woods dragging their old bare feet in the snow, clinging to each other. It was a miserable sight, but all I could do was to offer them the loaf of bread I was carrying for my own family, and listen to their woes for over two hours. Then I didn't hear about them any more, until this man told me that they, finally, gave up their struggle and delivered themselves to the Germans, who killed them without any scruples.
That night I heard other stories of rape and murder by Poles who sheltered Jews, as long as they could pay their "rent" but chased them out, or handed them over to the Germans, when they had no more money or belongings to pay with.
During the next few weeks we were hiding in the rye fields of a farmer named Kochinsky and then in fields of another farmer, Kaleshevsky, who were both good to us, but afraid of the Germans who now began to punish severely all Poles reported giving shelter or food to Jews.
About that time there began to appear groups of Jewish partisans active in the nearby forests. They saved some Jews from death and hunger and punished those peasants who were known as collaborators with the Germans. In one such case a group of partisans saved the lives of two Jews who took part in the Treblinka uprising and after that escaped and reached our vicinity.
It was already midsummer and the fields were ripe for harvest. For us it meant that we could not remain in the open fields much longer and had to look again for an underground shelter somewhere in the proximity of a farm. We decided to go back to the places we were in five months ago on the assumption that no one would again suspect the place after a long interval.
I went down to see one such place together with my brother Gershon and found the old bunker in good shape; but since we left, the hay-loft on top was removed and the entrance was exposed to everybody who passed by. We, therefore, decided to dig another shelter just near the old one.
The entrance to the new place was to be from a wall of the old hideout but covered with straw so that from the outside no one could see anything but a straw-padded wall. We dug the place some 30 cms. lower than the first and it was well covered and camouflaged.
We worked on this new hideout by night, for we had to carry away the fresh dug out earth some considerable distance from the spot. We had to work in shifts, and as we advanced our younger brother could also continue working inside through the day. Then our sisters also gave a hand carrying the sacks of dug-out earth, spreading it thin over the fields. Since we were working through the night eve had less time to gather enough food for the next day, so we had to manage on less food during he two months that we were preparing our new "residence". Luckily the field crops and vegetables were still in great abundance and we could easily procure such edibles as onions radishes, beets, carrots and potatoes, left over by the farmers.
Sometimes, during these night promenades we would meet fellow Jews in the woods. These were, usually the "well to do" who still had money left to pay the farmers for letting them hide in their barns and cellars. We were of the poorer folk who had to beg or steal our bread and other provisions.
Finally the hideout was ready for use. The entrance was about 75 cms. long and 40 cms. wide. But to enter it one had to crawl on the belly. We finished the job about an hour before dawn so that we had little time left for food gathering, just enough for the next day only.
Returning home I found my brothers and sisters fast asleep. They were exhausted. I had a chance to see their emaciated figures lying there on the bare, wet ground. Only our mother was awake and her first question was whether I managed to bring something to eat. She was now nearing sixty and as I looked at her I felt great pity for her, who at her age had to go through so much together with us.
The peasants were already working in the fields and we could hear them talking about us Jews. We heard one of them declare that it was in the interest of Poland to have all Jews annihilated. It made our blood cuddle. They didn't know, of course, that we overheard them.
After ten months of such precarious existence at the mercy of friendly Christian, we now felt that even our friends were not as kind and merciful as before. At times one could see on their faces that they were getting impatient with us, especially since we had nothing to pay them for bread and potatoes.
So I decided to try again to visit one of our Polish friends in town, with whom we left some of our belongings, before leaving the Ghetto. The visit was to be on a dark night and it was carefully planned.
As I was approaching the house I took care to examine the surrounding area and also to listen carefully if there were any strangers in the house. Suddenly I noticed, about 20 meters in front of me, two people with a flashlight. I bent down low and hid behind a door. Now I could hear distinctly one of them talking in German. After they walked away, I waited another half hour before I entered the house. Just as I opened the door I saw one German in the company of a Belloruss civilian, drinking vodka. The civilian now pointed at me and the German drew his pistol; but then I was already outside, running as fast as I could. I hid behind the bushes and could hear the German reproaching and cursing is companion for acting so slow when he saw me. They chased after me but I was already far away.
Before I returned to our hideout I managed to gather some vegetables from a garden on the outskirts of the town. I told my family of the narrow escape, but spared some of the details, for I did not want to grieve them.
Although we camouflaged our new hideout as best we could, we couldn't stay there very long. After a few days we heard steps outside and voices overhead. Someone must have noticed us and began to search for the entrance. They saw the old hideout was empty but then one of them noticed the small opening we left for airing and began to search for the entrance. We could hear them talking to each other about reporting to the special police.
We opened the secret door and came out into the open. We saw the owner who was an old acquaintance of ours. At first they calmed us and suggested that we go back into the hideout for they thought we were richer Jews... But we were suspicious and decided to leave the place.
We separated into two smaller groups and went out again into the open fields. After a while we stopped to rest under a tree, but heard someone running after us. It was a Polish boy, the son of a friend of ours who came to us with bread and some cooked food. That boy was Yanek Senchina whose father helped us out on several other occasions and even provided us with food for the Seder night. He saw us on the run, so he sent his boy after us with provisions. We were deeply touched by this example of human kindness.
It was now the end of the harvest season and we could find shelter under the heaps of cut grain. One morning a farmer came to load some sheaves and found us in the heap. At first he was really scared, but calmed down. Understanding our situation he let us remain hidden until the evening.
The next day we found another heap that was wet from the rains. Since it could not be taken in before it dried we could feel safe there for the next few days.
We now felt that we must prepare at least two new hideouts in the fields. These we planned to dig on the premises of the farmer Senchine without getting his permission.
Again we met with true friendship and human kindness. One morning returning from our digging the young son of a farmer gave us bread and milk and even offered his good advise where to find a hideout. He didn't know that his suggestions were almost identical with the places where we began our dig. But these were but rare cases of real human interest in those dark days.
During the last weeks of summer we had to change our secret lodging several times, because the Germans were on the hunt again. Once we were almost caught, but just by mere luck we didn't return to the hideout we prepared the day before.
A few days we spent on a farm near the village Shenievitz, under the floor of a barn packed with old ploughs and agricultural machinery. There we could have some rest until we were noticed by the owner, who ordered us to leave. We moved to another barn nearby, owned by a certain Piotrokovsky, who also told us to leave but finally agreed to let us stay if we were "careful". We did our best to be careful, but couldn't help going out at night to secure some food.
Finally we had o leave his place too, and decided to settle down in a safer shelter on the farm of an old man named Kochere. We figured that the chances to remain there were much better because the old man was stone deaf.
It was already after the harvest season and the cold days and nights was approaching. We had to think and plan for a second winter of misery and frosts. We also had to store up some edibles while the going was good, so we found a place to store up a pile of potatoes hoping to survive until the end of the war. We also found some beets and carrots enough to last us for some time. Charkovsky was old and deaf and our choice was well made this time.
About a week after we settled down on the secret bunker at Carkovsky's farm, when two of my brothers and two sisters went down to do some laundry by a stream they noticed a group of people in the field. They bent down to listen what language they were talking and though they heard Yiddish. They were not quite sure but it was already too late to run away. So they waited. It was really a group of armed Jewish partisans who were now active in the nearby forests. Most of them were from our own town: Simcha Warshawsky, Ekuthiel Karshenstein, Velvel Wishna and others with them.
They were after some acts of avenging the blood of their relatives, killed or delivered to be killed, by some Poles. They also held up some rich farmers and used the money to help out needy Jews in hiding. This was only one of a few groups of Jewish partisans. There were other such bands active in the vicinity. It was from such a group, whose leaders were: Pessach Katz of Semiatich. Shlomo Grude, Kalman Goldwasser and his cousin from Kadzin, that we later got a good sum of money with which to rent a "legal" bunker, whose owner also provided us with some food.
Some weeks later we too enjoyed the benefit of the Parisans' influence to get a safe place with a young farmer, Vladek Rimarchik. (The same fellow whose uncle once robbed my mother and sister of their shoes and overcoats). We made a deal with this farmer to let us dig a hole under his pigsty, well-camouflaged and covered. Although we had to get used to the stench of dung and urine of the animals and the ground was always wet we were glad to have this place of relative safety.
We brought our family into our new lodging and after eleven months of near starvation at last enjoyed regularly cooked meals, prepared for us by the farmer and his wife. Here we also enjoyed the regular visits of Shlomo Grude and his Partisan comrades, who came to cheer our spirits and bring us comfort. They also brought us the glad news that the Russians are advancing and that soon we shall be delivered from fear of execution. The same tidings we also heard from our hosts. Meanwhile, the German hunters and their dogs were after Jews in hiding and we too were daily exposed to death. One night the Germans surprised our farmer but didn't find our secret place. They did take away other Jews nearby.
By midwinter 1944, after two months at Rimchik's farm, we had to look for a new place, because our host was now in fear of being spotted. Fortunately, another friendly farmer was willing to let us in. It turned out afterwards that this fellow, Leonard, was so willing to help us because he knew Jews held him responsible for the murder of a Jewish woman and the active underground was planning to kill him. He now wanted to prove his benevolence to Jews.
We moved into the new bunker but couldn't stay there very long because we were discovered by a neighbor who was none other than the old Rimarchik. He could have easily reported us to the Germans, as he did many other Jews before. But he didn't.
We again went in the direction of the Sadowa forest where we found an underground bunker deep in the woods, near the forester's house. We came there without the forester's permission. Once we even felt that someone was after us, but we remained quietly without being discovered. We decided to return to the old hideout which we abandoned a few months earlier.
At that time, early in 1944, the Germans already suffered many setbacks on the Eastern front and were on the retreat from Russian territories. Sensing the approach of our deliverance, after fourteen months of fear, hunger and humiliation we felt the great desire to live and see the final collapse of our enemies.
Early one evening my brother and I went out to procure food for the family. Passing by Senchine's farm we noticed a full vat of boiled potatoes. We took as much as we could carry to bring back to our hungry family. We also overheard a conversation in the house, between the owner and a Jew who begged him to allow his stay in one of the barns, which Senshine calmly refused because the Germans now had an eye on his farm. We waited outside until the man came out of the house for we were curious to know who he was. He was a native of the nearby town of Semiatich and he also had with him Avreml Blockstein one of our town; from them we heard of other Jews hiding in a nearby Boyake; also of the many activities of armed Jewish partisans who began to avenge the death of their families by treacherous Polish and Belloruss peasants. They also showed us an article in the German Nazi newspaper "Volkisher Beobachter", reporting the "atrocities" of Jewish Partisan bands in Poland.
We, personally, also felt the effects of such Partisan activities, after which our Polish "friends" began to be more considerate with us. One of them even offered to give us shelter without any remuneration for over a month.
Besides these organized acts of vengeance, there were at this time several individual performances of resistance and bravery by young Jews who fought back when attacked. Such a one was Yekutiel Kashenstein...
At that time we heard from someone that our venerable Rabbi of Drochichin was still alive and we were naturally anxious to find him, but there was no trace of him. Later we heard that for some time the Rabbi was in hiding at the farm of Michael Chapke who later killed him. This report was never verified. What we did find out for certain was that this Chapke's brother kept many Jews who could pay good money for their shelters, but none who could not pay. We, too, were driven out of his barn when our money was finished.
The advancing Russian armies came nearer and nearer, but the countryside was still full of retreating Germans who were as hostile as ever to Jews who came across their paths. Russian and American bombers were now overhead and the front was already between Bialistok and Brisk.
Russian Partisans were now regular visitors in our vicinity and in some places they were already in full control although the Germans were still armed. Some young Jews were already walking around and even appeared working in the fields with their neighboring farmers, although it was still dangerous to do so. One such brave fellow was Froiche (Shlomo Lederman, the shoemaker's, son) who had no more patience to wait for the day of liberation and went out in the open as if to demonstrate his defiance of the enemy.
With the retreating German units there were also soldiers of the other nationalities and our brother Gershon actually carried on a long conversation with a Hungarian soldier who took him for a Polish farm worker.
It was already June. Fighting was still raging around our village. Now it was even more dangerous than ever to go out at night in search of food, for the whole countryside was heavily patrolled.
Finally, we lived to see the end of Nazi German rule. But before the end came, we were yet to experience many a fearful hour. One night there was a German unit in the barn over our heads, and we had to keep our breath and remain absolutely motionless, not to be discovered. There were also Ukrainian and Russian units who fought on the side of the Germans. One had to be careful not to mistake them for the Red army men. These traitors were rabid and ferocious, even more than the Germans. him to offer options on military affairs suggested that a decisive battle was now taking place right where we were. Again we could hear Russian spoken over our hideout, but we could not be sure whether these were already Red army men or Russians Ukrainians fighting on the side of the Germans. We didn't dare leave our bunker for three days.
Then it was all-quiet. We couldn't stand our thirst and hunger any longer, so one night we decided to risk a breakthrough in search of bread and water. We were so exhausted that we could hardly move, but managed to reach Pogerzetzk's house. We knocked on his window begging for bread. He wondered why we were still going to beg bread so late at night since the Russians were already there for three days. He gave us a big loaf of bread and a jug of water, but admonished us to be careful on our return, because of strict curfew regulations by the Russians, whose patrols might also shoot at straying civilians.
This was the hour we prayed for ever since the beginning of the war, and we ran to tell the glad tidings to our family in hiding.
At first mother and the girls would not believe it. But we finally convinced them that it was true.
The next morning we left our last bunker, but we couldn't get used to the daylight, after more than twenty months of living in the dark. Our mother was now bent with age and suffering. She couldn't straighten out. It was June, 1944.
On the way we met a Russian patrol. Gershon walked over to the first soldier and kissed him, for we all regarded them as angels of deliverance.
Gershon's analysis was correct, for only 15 kms. from where we were, near Sokolov, a great battle was waged and a great many casualties, on both sides, were now reported.
A week after liberation we returned to Drohichin. Our home was now occupied by a certain road worker named Scribon; It was he who reported my brother Noah to the Germans, after he found him hiding in our cellar, as described before. We appealed to the authorities for the right to get back our property, but it took some time before the man who was responsible for our brother's death could be made to move out. For some time we had to suffer him as our neighbor in the house.
When we finally took over the house, our home became the center of the surviving remnant of our community. Also Jews from the nearby town gathered here and all were received generously and with open heart.
This was the final chapter in the chronicle of pain and suffering of Drohichin's community.
These pages recording the years of endurance and suffering are dedicated to the sainted memory of those who perished, whose names are in the hearts of all families descending from our community now scattered all over the world.
May this also be a living testimony of the entire community that is no more the wonderful Jewish community of Rabbis and men of learning, pious, and G-d fearing Jews, leaders of benevolent organization, of whom only a remnant now lives.
It is for us the saved and living to continue and cherish their memory but also to go on building a new Jewish life . . .
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the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
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Updated 7 Nov 2007 by LA


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The American household doesn't look like it used to. How are churches reshaping to fit today's fast, furious and fragmented families.
For the last year it's been the mantra of almost every facet of American life, from politics to the economy. Yet of all the changes affecting churches over the last decade, possibly none has been greater than that of the basic shape of the American family. As the structure and values of the family shift, so do churches' worship styles, giving, volunteer involvement and approach to age-specific ministries—most notably, children's ministry.
This isn't an overnight change, of course. Sociologists and culture watchers say changes in the family have been taking place over the last 30 to 40 years. Specifically the move of women from the home to the workplace for both full-time and part-time employment has most altered the family landscape. A 2004 study by Herbert Klein titled "The Changing American Family" found that only 36 percent of mothers with children under age 6 were not working outside the home. Meanwhile, multiple studies and surveys show that couples are marrying later in life and having children at an older age. The result? The average family now has fewer children than in generations past.
Another change impacting local churches is the wide societal acceptance of cohabitation and divorce. As unmarried people live together in continually increasing numbers, more children are born out of wedlock. In 2006, the latest year for which data has been compiled nationally, 38.5 percent of children born were to unmarried parents. This fact and the high divorce rate have created an unprecedented number of single-parent families, most often headed by the mother. An overwhelming 70 percent of African-American babies are born into single-parent families; among the Hispanic population, it's around 50 percent._
Yet these statistics don't jibe with what the majority of Americans say are their "family values." According to a national poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, 71 percent of Americans believe "God's plan for marriage is one man and one woman, for life." Though similar, albeit smaller, polls indicate a lower percentage, even the lowest among them can't explain the moral chasm between our ideals about family and the reality.
Reality Check
What, then, does reality look like for the average American family? Fast, furious and fragmented. The faster pace of living among 21st-century families has impacted churches enormously. Churches' schedules, financial decisions and entire ministries are now shaped according to on-the-go families.
Behind their frantic pace is an ever-changing technology weaved into the daily family routine. Studies show that media use—cell phones, Internet, digital games, television, e-mail—soaks up more than nine-and-a-half hours of the average family member's day. (That doesn't include time spent multitasking with such media.) The multiplicity of activities in which parents involve their children, from music lessons to sports to community projects, eats into more of a family's time. And finally is the consumerism mentality, which is itself consuming Americans. If we aren't shopping for new goods, we're online researching them or finding someone to repair our broken ones.
These elements of contemporary family life are yielding unfavorable results. Despite the numerous activities, families are actually spending less time together—and what time families do spend together is largely dedicated to children's activities. Many social scientists agree that today children aren't just an important part of the family—the family agenda revolves around the children. Consequently, children are growing up internalizing values their families exhibit only through their daily habits.
Add all these elements together and you have a set of values that David Popenoe, professor of sociology and co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, identified as "secular individualism" in a 2008 report on the family: "This value set, which already predominates in the northern European nations, consists of the gradual abandonment of religious attendance and beliefs, a strong leaning toward 'expressive' values that are preoccupied with personal autonomy and self-fulfillment ... and a tolerance of diverse lifestyles."
The Time Factor
The average family's activities, values, focus, time and pace have all changed drastically. Is it any wonder, then, that churches are struggling to keep up with the Joneses?
One issue most pastors agree is the biggest factor in trying to minister to families is how busy people are. Chris Thatcher, pastor of connection and small groups at Cedar Mill Bible Church in Portland, Ore., says this has brought about fragmentation.
"This family fragmentation has been manifested in sports programs and different activities that run seven days a week," he says. "There used to be a break on weekends, but not anymore."
Thatcher believes this plays out in the church as relationships suffer. "People find less time for meaningful relationships centered around things of Christ and the church. Relationship tends to be crowded out."
As parents and children are caught up into more activities, families have started to consider weekends as hallowed times. "It's all a family can do to get to a church service; any involvement is a stretch," Thatcher says.
Across town, Glen Woods, children's pastor at Portland Open Bible Church, concurs. "I've noticed this gradual change as more and more families have less margin. The more children they have, the less margin the family has because of the different activities the kids are in. At home, families have less time together." Woods says he's seen some parents react with a backlash: "They've intuitively recognized the problem and decided to pull back from activities ... including activities at church."
Lance Cummins, worship pastor at NewSpring Church in Wichita, Kan., says his church is in the process of coming to terms with this dynamic. "We believe that families can afford to give [the church] only an hour, maybe two, a week." As a result, NewSpring has pared down its ministry, focusing solely on the weekend. "We've dropped all our other programs and focus just on the weekend, where we've gone to a 'worship one, serve one' model."
NewSprings' emphasis is now on asking parents to worship at one weekend service and then volunteer in another one. The church began offering a Saturday night worship service, identical to its Sunday services, to give congregants one more option as they try to fit church into their crammed schedules.
Streamlining processes and simplifying the schedule is also a method adopted at Cedar Mill, where Thatcher says the pastoral staff is still working out how to minister to the new family model. Part of the change process has been the realization that their former ministry style was actually accommodating family fragmentation, not addressing it. "We decided we need unity and simplicity," Thatcher says. "We don't want to complicate people's lives."
Simplicity is a theme surfacing among countless churches nationwide that are trying to adapt to family needs. Cedar Mill is "trying to do more with less," Thatcher explains. "Everything we do programmatically affects the whole family. We're very cognizant of how much we're asking people to do."
In his role as small groups pastor, Thatcher aims to make involvement as easy as possible. This has translated into providing training for ministry volunteers that's both reproducible and accessible in different venues to accommodate people's varied schedules. A "group life center" in the church lobby, for example, offers information on the latest options, and follow-up is essential. "For those new to the church who wish to join a ministry team, they go through one person who assesses their readiness and walks them through options instead of making [potential volunteers] fish for contacts themselves."
On-the-Go Communication
Time—or the lack of it—has certainly changed how churches minister to families. Yet just as dramatic a shift is the way churches must communicate to the average family that's constantly on the go. The children's pastor at Cedar Mill, for example, used to be able to put out a flier about an event a month in advance, and people would participate.
"Now communication three to six months out is crucial," Thatcher says. "If you have more than one or two kids in school, the long lead time is essential because school activities are a competing factor."
At Portland Open Bible Church, lightening the schedule has meant cutting back on committee meetings that Woods says contribute to families' lack of margin. "Instead, we want to live life, to experience actual community."
Thinking through the reality of how families live and worship has pushed the church to acknowledge some hard realities, while also taking innovative steps to deal with these.
"One-third of our families are single-parent homes," Woods cites as an example. "We've had to focus a lot on mentoring parents, especially single parents. The bottom line is that the practical impact we can have on these children with just an hour or two a week is minimal. Let's face it; the odds are against making a lasting impact. The people best postured to do it are the parents."
As a result, Woods strives to build communication channels with parents, seeking open discussion with moms and dads. "When various parents take the opportunity to speak openly to me, I work at not getting defensive. It's opened up a great avenue for ministry."
Woods has also learned to interpret complaints as expressions of need. In fact, one recent complaint resulted in a new class for toddlers through 2-year-olds, which answered a felt need of many parents.
Woods and his volunteer workers are also passionate about assisting children with special medical, emotional and social needs—and not just at church. They dialogue with parents during the week, discussing what each child is doing at school and at home.
"These parents need to see that the church is working for their child, that ministering to the child is a two-way street," Woods says.
New Family Blends and Backgrounds
Increasing numbers of blended families present their own set of needs and concerns for churches, all of which affect church life. Because most children in these situations alternate periods between custodial parents, children's ministries often struggle to find classroom curriculum that can be grasped piecemeal, regardless of how often children are able to attend.
"We know we're going to have certain kids here only every other weekend," Cummins mentions as a practical example NewSpring has faced. "[So] we've learned not to ask the question, 'Where were you last week?'"
Other churches are dealing with cohesion issues beyond blended families. At Rosewood Christian Reformed Church in Bellflower, Calif., the formerly Dutch-American congregation has morphed into an ethnically diverse population where many parents bring their children to a midweek kids program and may attend a weeknight Bible study, but they often don't come on Sundays. As a result, family ministries pastor Bonny Mulder-Behnia says the church has moved intentionally toward community outreach.
"We have to teach and nurture the children with the knowledge that this [midweek program] may be the only hour during the week when they receive any biblical teaching or Christian values," she says.
Since many families don't come to Sunday services, Rosewood reaches out to them through a series of events, such as Kids' Carnival Day at Easter, community pancake breakfasts and Summer Family Nights, where a free meal, VBS-type programming for children and classes for parents are offered.
"While we never assume that parents will have time or desire to nurture the faith of their children at home, we are always trying to find ways to help build families and get them involved in some capacity," Mulder-Behnia says. Her church addresses the busyness issue by holding short-term and one-time events such as church education for adults in five- or six-week sessions in lieu of longer programs.
As Cummins points out, parents desire to be spiritual teachers for their kids but often don't know how. "Families have been impacted by the 'expert culture,'" he explains. "They think only experts can do things well, not parents. They don't feel qualified to teach their children spiritual truth."
In response, teaching pastors affirm parents' roles as spiritual mentors, and the church offers simple guides—including a DVD—for parents to use with their kids to walk through together what the kids learned in the children's ministry that weekend.
Innovation for Unity's Sake
Though distributing a church-created DVD is routine at many churches now, it's an indication of how far churches have come in using technology to minister effectively. The children's ministry at Portland Open Bible Church, for example, has incorporated communication via blogs, cell phones and iPods to connect more with families whose children attend its programs. According to Woods, these tech tools offer parents encouragement as spiritual nurturers and put information for spiritual training into their hands. Such media also help make resources available so parents can make the choice to utilize what their children are learning at church. Woods found that launching a children's ministry blog, with regular postings of photos of the kids at church has started a buzz. "Everyone loves to see photos of their kids, and the blog is another point of connection that gives us the opportunity to initiate a faith conversation."
Whether it's through blogs or simple phone calls, the key for most churches is using new ways to connect people within the congregation. For years, churches have catered their services to different worship styles, age groups and individual preferences. Yet lately many churches are discovering that intergenerational worship can be a connective point that reduces fragmentation and draws families back into relationships with one another.
Cedar Mill Bible Church started an intergenerational service where all the members worship together. Thatcher said his own spiritual experience was strengthened when, instead of his young son being in the children's program elsewhere on the campus, they celebrated communion together for the first time. "I was thrilled, and it was a tangible example of supporting intergenerational unity," he said. "We're going to keep doing that—anything and everything we can to support unity as it relates to families."
The key, as every minister discovers at some point along the journey, is to stay true to the vision God has given a church—especially through the reconfigurations. Rosewood recently experienced this, as its community-focused vision enveloping the diversity of cultures around them resulted in some middle-class Anglo families opting out. Mulder-Behnia says while this has hurt the church financially, they've chosen to celebrate the ministry that God has given them and the fruit they are reaping.
"It's extremely hard to stay focused, and really easy to justify adding new things," adds Cummins. "There are so many good programs out there. The key for us is to stay laser-focused on the few things we do well, and do them well."
It's that focus that will allow churches to stem the tide against family fragmentation and instead unify those in their communities. Because although the family unit may not look the same as it did a generation ago, it remains the core element of our society—and, as such, the most fertile ground for church ministry.
Homeschool mom and freelance writer KAREN SCHMIDT has worked with kids since she was an Awana leader in high school. She feels totally blessed to be part of a remarkable, small Baptist church in northwestern Washington.
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Hi I live in South Wales UK, I got woken up at 3am yesterday morning by being bitten by this Spider!
I suddenly fely sick, nauseous, had a headache and just generally felt unwell. I had to go to A&E, after calling NHS Direct and was advised to take Anti-histemines. Nearly 20 hours later I still have a horrible numbing and tingling in my arm, which is now in my neck/face,iv slept all day and im still exhausted and having cold flushes.
So I would really like to know if this little bugger is poisonous/rare/Toxic...?? I want to know WHAT it is. Iv never been alergic to anything in my life, and I m not scared of spiders or insects at all... so its nothing to do with being in a panic.
The Doc did say iv had a "systematic reaction".
If anyone could help that would be brilliant!!
Thank You! x
p.s... its the same spider but different pics, it was black with a slight cream pattern on its back. It wasnt "big" but the bum was quite rounded and bulbous.
It's a Lace-weaver (Amaurobius sp.). See this thread with possibly the same species:


text: I was watching Courier vs Borg on tennis channel today. They've definitely lost a step with age but they still got the court smarts. Yet, it still seems like there is a very large gap between the retired pros and the top players on the tour today. I was wondering.... Could these guys still beat anyone in the top 100? What level of tennis are Courier and Borg playing now? Are they still 7.0? 6.0? 5.0+?


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Welcome to The GAME THREAD BABY!
Just to get your warmed up for tomorrow night. I'm leaving this here as a place holder while i create the thread. Feel free to post or w.e. The more we all contribute to the thread the better off it'll be. Kinda like these KNICKS!


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Whenever Apple launches a major new product, massive billboards usually go up within days. I know this, because my commute along San Francisco's 101 freeway passes three giant billboards on the way into the city.
Year after year, I've seen the ads go up within days of the new product's launch. Last year, ads for the iPad 2 were posted almost immediately after the device's introduction by Steve Jobs.
Thing is, those same iPad 2 billboards are still there. Two weeks after the launch of the iPad 3, the billboards along 101 are still advertising the old iPad 2.
It seems to be the same situation across the country. We've been talking about this for days, and no one on the Cult of Mac staff has seen a outdoor ad for the new iPad.
What does it mean?


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The exact reason why University of Florida President Bernie Machen agreed to postpone retirement may be buried in the numbers of Gov. Rick Scott's next budget proposal.
The exact reason why University of Florida President Bernie Machen agreed to postpone retirement may be buried in the numbers of Gov. Rick Scott's next budget proposal.
Machen would not address specifics Wednesday about what he discussed with Scott or what convinced him he would have the resources necessary to pursue top-10 status for UF.
He wrote in an email that he would not comment on how long he would be willing to stay, but he noted that Scott will reveal the nature of the governor's commitment to UF's goal soon.
"The commitments should become clear when the governor releases his budget in the next few weeks," Machen wrote.
When Machen agreed to remain at Tigert Hall at Scott's request, it signaled a surprising end to a six-month investment of time and money to find UF's next president.
Last year, UF hired Miramar Beach-based search firm Greenwood/Asher & Associates to work on the search for $95,000, but the university will pay a lesser amount because the search was suspended, according to UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes. She said the final figure has yet to be determined.
Scott Nygren, a UF professor who sat on the search committee and a former trustee, said Wednesday that he is hopeful that the announcement is a positive development.
"The governor seems to be committing himself to some substantial support," he said. "I'm hoping that the Legislature will be in agreement, and that we can make a difference."
Contact Joey Flechas at 338-3166 or firstname.lastname@example.com.