Outstanding persons

Was born in 1847 in Kamenets-Litovsk, in very dear family of the wealthy Jew Hasid Moyshe. Further, as well as most of the Jewish children, it was trained at school where melamed Yakov-Bør taught kids Gemara, the Torah and Midrash. Already there at the school by means of the diligent doctrine, natural intelligence and biting rozog Rabi Shai-Biecaliel little Ekhezkel acquires besides occupations, the life device in the Jewish society of the "Lithuanian" places, features of the relations in a kagal, life and life of the non Jewish population of Kaments. At this stage in all vital knowledge it is trained generally the grandfather reb by Aron-Leyzer and the granny Bale Russia, further "free bread". Probably, it is easier to list in what sir Kotik was not engaged — preparation of the wood, contents shank coffee house, etc.

Moves from place to place later. The reason for that search of means of livelihood and attempt to avoid a set of the Jewish riots (for example, the well-known Kiev disorder) then becomes "live history of internal displacements of the Russian Jews".

Cat family
This stopped the most extraordinary to a chelovecha in Poland in Nalevkakh one of the districts of Warsaw where contained "the most interesting Jewish coffee house in the world" as the author of the book "Jewish Souls", A. Litvin was expressed about this institution. The Jewish emigrants from the East (Lithuanian Jews) had to keep together, and "core" of this "supolki" just and there was Ekhezkel Kotik. The anti-Semitic policy which is followed by mass riots (especially in Malorossiya and in the south of Russia) generated several waves of the Jewish emigration, in particular and to Warsaw. Monetary persons moved and
besides with extensive communications. At this conjuncture the coffee house of sir Kotik becomes the place of "party" of Jewish emigrants. And who here is only not present: manufacturers, merchants, bankers, commission agents (speaking the modern language — "and other representatives of small and medium business"), the Jewish intellectuals generally in the person of writers also appeared. Any Jewish social and political action does not do without Kotik's participation, his approach to creation of new movements and the organizations is interesting. Everything in the same coffee house he unostentatiously allows you to read the brochure booklet written by him, certainly in free time. Here you otnechy to do "took a sip" of several words, here you cannot come off it any more, by the end of reading you already share views of that owner of a coffee house. Cheerfully? Trust Ali is not present, but thus "The Zionist union of the world", "Visit of patients", "The help to orphans", "A lodging for the night just", "Akhiezer" (The brotherly help), naturally, with headquarters on Nalevkakh, 31 were born.

However it would be desirable to stop on its literary work, namely on such thing as "Memoirs" — the present encyclopedia about the life of the town of Kamenets in the XIX century written into Yiddish. Many years later (in 1998) the Center for history of the Polish Jewry at Tel Aviv University published the book of the Cat in Hebrew. This "for a long time the forgotten pearl of the Jewish literature" was translated by Maya Ulanovskaya's works on great and mighty.

The book "Reminiscence" — the real ontology of life of the city: petty bourgeoises, landowners, Jews-melamedy, dealers, assesor, district police officers and all with the characters, habits, acts. All this is given from very interesting point of view and with subtle Jewish humour. The narration is led with application of the most interesting verbal turns, comparisons, proverbs and so forth. "I tell about what I saw" — the author begins with these words the narration about Kamentsa . Display of backward life from within with its positive and negative manifestations, without pathos, made work "treasure" of the Jewish and world literature. It is enough to provide the statement about the book of the classic of the Jewish literature Sholem Aleichem in the letter to E. Kotik: "Was Jews in your Kamentsa and in Zastavye much, it is a lot of relatives in your noisy how you call her, a family — what none of them made such memoirs how yours? »

In detail described in the memoirs sir Shemet and his estate in the territory of present Shemetovka.

 

• From the translator
• Dov's preface
• Instead of the preface
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2-5
• Chapter 6-8
• Chapter 9-12
• Chapter 13-17
• Chapter 18-21
• Chapter 22-26
• Chapter 27-29



• Chapter 1-2
• Chapter 3-4
• Chapter 5-8
• Chapter 9-11
• Chapter 12-13
• Chapter 14-15
• Chapter 16-17
• Chapter 18-21
• Chapter 22-25
• To return back