Famous People

Moshe Gildenman, 1898-1957, was a famous World War II partisan fighter, known as “Dyadya” (Uncle) Misha. Before the war, he was a construction engineer and owned a factory that made concrete products.  He was also active in the arts and Jewish theater. 

When the Nazis invaded, they killed his wife and young daughter during the first mass killing of 2,000 Jews in Korets in May 1942. Gildenman and his son Simcha escaped from the ghetto and ran into the forest. He formed a partisan unit and fought against the Nazis and their Ukrainian collaborators, stealing weapons, carrying out combat missions, acts of sabotage, raids, as well as liberations of prisoners from German camps. In 1943, his group joined the Soviet “Suvorov” partisan brigade. They then joined the Soviet army, where Gildenman was promoted to commander and captain of the Engineering Corps. 

He participated in the capture of Berlin and was awarded many military honors and decorations. According to Yad Vashem, “Misha and his company were among the first to enter Hitler's bunker; on the walls of the bunker he wrote:

 ‘I, Misha Gildenman, am here, despite enemy orders.’

After the war, Gildenman and his son moved to Poland, France and then Israel, where he worked for the Yad Vashem Institute. Moishe Gildenman's wartime memoirs were published in Yiddish.

Haim Bargal, artist, 1922-1985, was born in Korets, Poland. His father was among the founders of the Tarbut School in Koretz, a Zionist educational institution where classes were taught in Hebrew. He studied art at the Zhitomir Academy of Arts, leaving when the war broke out. He and his family were forced into the Korets ghetto before the mass killings. His mother was murdered in the first mass killing in May 1942, and he and his father escaped into the forest.  He then joined and fought in the Soviet partisan Kovpak brigade.

After the war, he and his father returned to Koretz and then moved to Israel in 1947. He fought in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence.  He lived at Kibbutz Sha'ar Hagolan.

His art was influenced by his Holocaust experiences and memories. He continued his studies at the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem and the Parsons School of Design in New York. An award-winning artist, his art works are displayed at the Israel Museum, the Tel Aviv Museum, and the Haifa Museum, among others.

See also the book entitled, Haim Bargal: Paintings and Drawings, published by Kibbutz Shaar HaGolan, Israel, 1975

Rabbi Pinchas, born in Lithuania, was the son and descendant of two rabbis and Talmudic scholars, his father Rabbi Avraham Abba and Rabbi Natan Shapira. He received an extensive education in the Talmud, Tanach and Torah.  His father moved the family to the province of Volyhn, where they met and became followers of the Baal Shem Tov (Israel ben Eliezer, “Master of the Good Name”), the founder of the Chassidim. Rabbi Pinchas studied with the Baal Shem Tov, who said about him: 

“A soul such as that of R' Pinchas comes down to this world only once in 500 years."

The Baal Shem Tov said that after his death, his students should follow Rabbi Pinchas of Korets or Dov Ber ben Avraham, the Maggid of Mezhyrich (a nearby town).

The Baal Shem Tov sent Rabbi Pinchas to Korets, where he lived for 20 years. Among Rabbi Pinchas’ famous sayings are the following:

For many years I wrestled with my Anger, until finally I conquered him and placed him in my pocket. Now I take him out only when I need him. But I am so angry with him, that I do not ever want to take him out again! 

A prayer which is not said in the name of all of Israel is not a prayer.

The root of gloominess is pride. An arrogant person thinks that the world owes him honor and respect. He always feels slighted, believing that people disdain and snub him. As a result, he always is in a somber mood. A humble man cheerfully accepts everything that comes his way. (Midrash Pinchas)