Travel Notes

The photographs above were taken by Christian Herrmann on a 2017 swing through Volhynia. He writes "The sun was already sinking when we reached the town of Shepetivka. We had a look at the Great Synagogue – obviously still used by a Jewish community – and the Jewish cemetery, a densely overgrown location." For more, visit Herrmann's blog at https://vanishedworld.blog. The two photographs above are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In the memoir Vodka Shot, Pickle Chaser, author David Kalis recounts his experiences in Russia as a young college graduate. Near the end of his journey, he visited Shepetovka, the town of his grandfather’s birth and childhood. Here are some of his reflections on visiting Shepetovka.

“(My grandfather) Nate Fishbein was born in 1911 in Shepetovka. He had a sister and two brothers, and his father had a good job as a foreman at a sugar factory. The family lived well and spent a lot of time at synagogue. They considered themselves quite religious, attending Hebrew school, celebrating Jewish holidays, and centering their lives around religion and family. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, and with the growth of anti-Semitism in the region, their situation worsened. Nate’s father was imprisoned by the communists for being a member of the so-called bourgeois class, and died in prison of influenza.

Pogroms were not uncommon. Out-of-town farmers would come to terrorize local Jews, often with the intent of injuring or even killing them. Whether condoned by the government or not, they involved fighting, throwing bombs, and burning houses. On one occasion, during Passover, an aggressive group of farmers formed a pogrom near my grandfather’s house. As Nate’s mother prepared the customary large pot of borscht, a handmade bomb flew through a window. Instead of detonating, the bomb landed in the soup, defused, and the family survived.

Soon thereafter, with the situation deteriorating for the Jews, Uncle Israel and Aunt Sophie decided it was time to leave Shepetovka. Nate was asked to join them on their journey. After bribing a train official, and with only the clothes on their back and some money, the new family hid in a cattle car for two days on their way to Antwerp via Warsaw. There they boarded a boat to New York where they were processed through Ellis Island and welcomed by friends and relatives. Taking the lead from those they knew, they settled in the Boston area, where a support system had already taken root. Nate changed his last name from Fishbein to Spiegel. While he did hear from his siblings and parents following the move, the letters slowly stopped arriving, and following World War II, he never heard from them again.”

Visiting Shepetovka:

“We made our way through the modern sections of Shepetovka where paved roads and well-kept, free-standing houses were the norm. We reached a beautiful large pond surrounded by large, leafy trees and green brush. People walked hand in hand, frolicked on the wooden pier, or enjoyed the natural scenery from benches. The air was fresh and invigorating. Shepetovka seemed so vibrant, yet to my grandfather, this place had been lost forever. I grew more curious and intrigued as we approached the older section. The paved roads and sidewalks gave way to the dried, sun-cracked dirt of the historic district. This was the Shepetovka my grandfather new.

Meandering along dirt roads, over small grassy hills, through overgrown brush, and after passing a few older, crumbling storefronts, we found ourselves a bit lost. We stood in front of an unremarkable, faded red structure. Its façade had inlaid columns that had once been white. The back door had a small blue sign. It bore a small Jewish star and read “Synagogue of Shepetovka.” Inside the building, one man said 'the synagogue you stand in today used to be filled with many worshipping Jews. It was a beautiful place with new scrolls, ornate walls, stained glass, and prayer books. You see what has happened? Today, we are a very small community. We once had forty thousand Jews in the region. Now, maybe we have five hundred. There was a long history here, and now it’s gone. Many Americans come to Shepetovka looking for their roots. This is very common. I tell all of them about our town and what has happened. The Jews in this area were mostly killed in the Great War, and this synagogue and the few Jews that are still here remain. Unfortunately, soon we will be gone too.' "

Source: Vodka Shot, Pickle Chaser by David A. Kalis, 2014, Forward Motion Publishing

Review the Tablet Magazine article by David Kalis about his 1993 visit to Shepetovka

An article about a couple's 2010 visit to Shepetovka can be viewed here.

Compiled by Miriam Kirshner

Copyright © 2018 Miriam Kirshner