SEFER STRI. SEIFER STRYJ: YIZKOR BOOK OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF STRYJ ספר סטרי
Tel Aviv: Hotsa'at Y.L. Perets: Irgun yots'e Stri be-Yisra'el, 1962. Item #42937
1st Edition. Original printed Cloth, 4to, 260 + 68 + [10] pages. Includes illustrations, portraits, and a folded map. 28 cm. In Hebrew with English and Yiddish. Errata slip present. Includes bibliographical references.
Yizkor book for the community of Striy (Stryj) Ukraine. Includes Fold-out memory map by Albert Waldman showing the town including the ghetto and other landmarks.
Contains several name registers pertaining to the Jewish community of Stryj and its former residents abroad:
-- Alphabetical necrology of those from Stryj who perished in the Holocaust ("Shemotihim shel kedoyshei Stri", Hebrew-Yiddish section, p. 198-222)
-- Alphabetical necrology of former residents of the town who died in Israel ("Yots'e Stri shenefetru be-Isra'el", Hebrew-Yiddish section, p. [261])
-- A memorial listing titled "Jews of the Stryjer community victims of the Nazi Holocoust [sic] as commemorated by their relatives in the United States", arranged alphabetically by name of submitter (English section, p. 61-68).
-- Alphabetical necrology of former members the United Stryjer Young Men's Benevolent Association and a roster of its current officers as of publication (English section, p. 6)Language and Other Notes:
“Stryj is located 44 miles south of Lvow. On the eve of the German occupation circa 12,000 Jews lived in Stryj. On July 3, 1941, German forces occupied Stryj and the next day a pogrom broke out, with German encouragement , during which 350 Jews were killed and a great deal of Jewish property was vandalized and looted. A few days after the pogrom, a detachment of German Security Police executed 11 Jews and 1 Ukrainian, after discovering the bodies of 150 prisoners killed by the retreating Soviet forces.
After the initial wave of violence, the Germans restored order, and a tense period of calm descended on the community. Jews were required to wear a white armband bearing the Star of David, and a Jewish Council (Judenrat) led by Oskar Huterer was established. The Jewish Police (Judischer Ordnungsdienst) was led by a man named Laufer, was also created, to enforce daily forced labour quotas, which the Germans required for construction work. A large monetary 'tribute' was imposed on the community, and the Jews also had to supply furniture and other items for the Germans. Jewish shops were marked with a Star of David, and Jews were only permitted to visit the market for two hours, between 10:00 a.m. and noon.
In August 1941, Stryj was transferred to a German civil administration and became the centre of Kreis Stryj, within the Distrikt Galizien. Dr Wiktor von Dewitz was appointed as Kreishauptmann….
During the winter of 1941 -1942, the Jews had to surrender all their winter clothing to the German army. Due to the lack of fuel, food and adequate clothing, many died. A typhus outbreak also ravaged the ghetto and the Jewish hospital quickly became overcrowded and unsanitary. At this time, a number of Jews were sent to perform forced labour in impoverished villages in the Carpathian Mountains. Only a few of them returned a few weeks later, bloated from starvation. According to a report by the mayor of Stryj, the Jewish population declined from circa 11,000 to only 9,700 during the winter months….
In September and October 1942, hundreds of Jews from the surrounding area were brought into Stryj, as the Kreishauptmann ordered that the villages be cleared of all but the most essential Jewish workers, for example doctors, by the end of October. The local authorities were to ensure that no Jews remained in hiding. On October 17-18,1942, a second deportation 'Aktion' occurred. 1,487 Jews were detained overnight in the synagogue, and then transported to the Belzec death camp the following morning. A third 'Aktion' took place on October 21-24, where this time 800 Jews were deported. The fourth 'Aktion' took place during November 15-16, 1942, during which 1,200 Jews were also sent to the Belzec death camp.
These deportations were badly organised and did not proceed on the basis of prepared lists. Rather the German and Ukrainian police appeared to be simply meeting a quota, seizing Jews off the streets and dragging inhabitants from their homes to the synagogue, regardless of age or employment. In the chaos, some Jews managed to hide. A few, like the teenager Friedrich Edelstein, managed to bribe Ukrainian guards to board up the windows of their train only loosely. Under the cover of nightfall, they removed the boards, jumped from the train, and made their way back to the ghetto. By the end of 1942, the Jews of Stryj, had no doubts about the fate that awaited them….
The ghetto was located on Berek Joselewicz, Kugnierska, Krawiecka, and Lwow Streets, occupying a smaller area than the previous residential district. The roads leading out of the ghetto were fenced off, and the exits were guarded. Some of those who were employed and had special armbands bearing the letter 'W' were now relocated to camps established near their respective work sites, while their families remained in the ghetto. Inside the ghetto hunger reigned, and many, like the teenager Rena Goldstein, formed small knitting groups or other associations in an attempt to hold the community together….
On May 23, 1943, 1,000 ghetto residents were deported first to the Janowska Street labour camp in the outskirts of Lvov, then to the Lublin Concentration Camp. Then on June 5 -7, 1943, the remaining 3,000 ghetto residents were shot in the Holobutow Forest.by the Security Police and members of the Ukrainian Police. According to a number of eye-witness accounts the executioners exhibited signs of heavy alcohol consumption. After the ghetto liquidation, Kreishauptmann von Dewitz reported that the mass graves had been improperly covered , posing a health danger for the general population….
Stryj was liberated by the Red Army on August 8, 1944, and several Jews emerged from hiding. Some had escaped into the woods, while others had been hidden by Poles and Ukrainians. A number of survivors returned to the city, but soon they moved on.During 1947, several members of the Security Police unit based in Stryj were arrested in Vienna and extradited to the Soviet Union, where they were tried for war crimes. They received sentences of varying duration's, the last of them returning to Austria in 1955. On March 16, 1954, a Hamburg court sentenced Karl Klarmann to four years and six months in prison, for his role in crimes committed in Stryj. On March 18, 1959, in Vienna, Josef Gabriel, a former member of the Drohobycz GPK, was sentenced to life in prison for his participation in atrocities committed in Eastern Galicia” (The Encyclopaedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933-1945).
SUBJECT(S): Jews -- Ukraine -- Stryi. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Memorial books (Holocaust) -- Ethnic relations. OCLC: 19206205.
Ex-library with usual marks. Very Good Condition. (YIZ-23-3-BALXCCI-’e).
Price: $200.00