Rokitna Holocaust Survivors - A Large Collection of Paper items

Rokitna Holocaust Survivors - A Large Collection of Paper items

Hundreds of paper items related to Rokitna refugees who were collected by the Rokitna organization in Israel. In the collection presented handwritten testimonies of survivors about their family members who perished in the Holocaust, names lists of  of those who perished in the Holocaust from the Rokitna community, material collected from various survivors in preparation for the Kdoshey Roktina  Book (Which was edited by Eliezer Leoni), including rare group photographs of students in Jewish educational institutions, cultural activities, JNF, etc. also apear early bar mitzvah invitations for survivors, union regulations, many requests for financial help from survivors to the organization, Many important histories shed light on Rokitna Jewry during the Holocaust.

In Rokitna, which belonged to the Jewish community in Sarani (Wahlin), there was an ancient Jewish settlement that was destroyed in the riots of 1648-1649. Young Jewish families came to the town at the beginning of the twentieth century, and within a few years a Jewish community of young people was organized in Rokitna, leading an ultra-Orthodox life alongside a Hebrew school of the "Tarbut" network, which was established in the early 1920s and was attended by hundreds of students. In 1934, a "Hebrew-speaking association" was established on behalf of the school, next to which a public library operated and a regular wall newspaper.

On the eve of the Holocaust, in 1939, close to 3,500 Jews lived in and around Rokitna. The Red Army entered Rokitna in mid-September 1939. The Jewish population integrated into the new regime, but all Jewish institutions were closed. The Germans occupied the area within a short time and as soon as they entered the town, attacks on the Jews of Rokitna began. A Judenrat was appointed and in April 1942 the ghetto was established and a Jewish police force was organized. In the new synagogue building, the Germans set up a workshop where they employed Jewish artisans for their needs. Most of the time there was a heavy famine in the ghetto.

On August 26, 1942, an aktion (liquidation operation) was held in the ghetto. 1,631 Jews were gathered in the market square in front of the new synagogue. About 300 people were killed in the gunfire that was opened on them In the market square. 400 Jews were captured and transported in train carriages to the city of Sereni, where they were shot, along with other Jews from the area, into pre-prepared pits. The rest of the Jews fled from the square to the forests, most of whom were captured and murdered by the Ukrainians. The others joined the Russian partisans and fought the Nazis and their aides until the end of the war. The town's Jews who fled at the beginning of the war with the retreating Soviets enlisted and fought in the Red Army. Most of the remnants of the Rokitna Jewish community immigrated to Israel after the war.

The collection has not been thoroughly examined by us.

Hundreds of paper details in two original folders of the organization. general condition very good.