=amv2c.txt
This doc is the same as =amv2.txt, except that I have pasted on a
detailed listing of the photos that I SCAN'd to disc. 

NOTES ON A VISIT TO THE TOWN OF AMDUR (INDURA, Belorus), 13 April
99 (Yom HaShoah); and travels to and from there (Warsaw--
Bialystock--Grodno--Vilna)

When these are completed and tidied up, I would like to dedicate
these notes -- that is, this trip -- to the memory of my aunt, 
MINAH AMDUR SACK, z'l (Gevurah sh'b' CHESED);
          bat 
BENJAMIN EMANUEL AMDUR &
MALKA SILBERBLATT AMDUR 
          bat 
R. NOCHEM JAFFE of GRODNO  

15 April 99 (Chesed sh'b' TIFERET); Internet Cafe, Bialystock
16 April, 18 April -- Jewish Community Center, Warsaw

----------------------------------------------------------------
EDITORIAL NOTES:

Notes on Visit to Indura , 13 April 99 (Yom HaShoah)
These are more detailed notes than my first E-mail, of 15 April
99; but these notes still need organization.
This write-up will be in very rough form, with much repetition,
and many inaccuracies; I'm going through my notebooks and various
slips of paper; and writing under some time pressure, etc. 
Apologies.
I'll request corrections from Miriam Margoyles, Jonah Bookstein,
and if possible Ziv Hosid; but I'll send these out in the
meantime, just so I'm sure that they get out.  However, they must
be regarded as rough-draft, tentative; please check with me before
circulating anything beyond the AMDUR* discussion group.
As soon as I can, I'll send out a corrected version.

Abbreviation:  ZC = Ziv Hosid.
                      
----------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS:

First I must acknowlege the "ground-breaking" visit to Grodno and
Indura in the Winter of January 1999, by Miriam Margoyles, who
came with a BBC crew to make a radio program, which was broadcast
by the BBC in Easter Week, 1999.  She was guided by Frank
Schwartz, from Minsk; and by Ziv Hosid of Grodno. 
Miriam Margoyles has said that Frank Swartz was most helpful.
His address is:
Frank Swartz
Executive Director
East European Jewish Heritage Project  (registered, UK)
Jewish Revival Charitable Mission      (registered, Belarus)
13b Dauman Street
MINSK 220002
Telephone:  +00375---17--234-5612  and
FAX:         00375---17--234-3360
E-mail:  root@eejhp.open.by
I gather that his organization is recognized as a Charity both in
the UK and in Belarus

Next, I must acknowlege with much gratitute the work of Ziv Hosid,
who guided me through Grodno and to Indura.  Without him I would
have been rather bewildered, and rather scared.  I don't know if I
would have gotten to Indura, and back, without him.
One could not imagine a more knowlegable and helpful guide.

Jonah Bookstein, Program Director of the Lauder Foundation in
Warsaw, was also most helpful; without his assistance, and his
introduction of me to Ziv Hosid, things would have been, at best,
much more difficult. 
I am also most grateful to the Jewish Community of Warsaw, and in
particular to Jerzy Kichler, President of the Jewish Congregatoins
of Poland, for giving me the privilege of staying at the Warsaw
center before and after this trip; and enabling me to write up my
notes on their computer.
                                  
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
ROUTE TO GRODNO:

As noted below, the easiest Belarus visa to get is a 'Transit
Visa', which allows one 48 hours in Belarus; but to get that one
must show a train ticket (I don't know if a plane ticket would do)
for travel THROUGH Belarus.  
So a Warsaw--Grodno--Vilna--Warsaw  ticket will do; a Warsaw--
Grodno--Warsaw ticket will not do.  

I came from Warsaw, paused in Bialystock (a pleasant enough
place), continued by train from Bialystock to Bialystock Kusetz
(Frontier).  That feels like a border town; the shops sell various
items difficult to get in Belarus, eg film, blank audio cassettes,
and toilet paper.   A large number of rather exhuberant young
people, many wearing black leather jackets, were apparently
unpacking shoes and such from large cartons, and distributing them
amongst themselves, then throwing the cartons out the window
before reaching the Belarus border.  One doesn't necessarily look
too closely at everything.                       
  
The train from the border to Grodno was definitely a local;
although I suppose there are more luxurious through trains from
Warsaw.

Incidentally, as I left Belarus, there was a bit of consternation
because I did not have a seat reservation; they finally found me
one; I was one of 3 passengers in that railroad coach.  On the
other hand, I'm not at all sure that I would have gotten past the
various bureducracies, railroad and military, and onto that train
but for Ziv Hosid's rather bemused guidance.

One sees horse-plows, and occasinally an old tractor, in the
region.

---------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES ON BELARUS

As of 14 April 99, exchange rate was US$1 = 300,000 Belarus
rubles.
Inflation has been disasterous for the elderly, who live on
government Pensions fixed in rubles. 
Apparently only bread is still subsidized.
I had been advised to be careful of drinking the water, and Let's
Go/Europe advises one to be wary of Belarus butter/cheese
products,  since these are likely to come from the region affected
by the Chernobyl radioactive fallout.
Buses are rather crowded; one may buy tickets from the driver, and
must then punch them.

Of course a visitor, in particular a Jewish visitor, must repect
the principle that 'Din Malkut din'.  That means:  be courteous,
deferential, and don't talk politics.

Citizens of Belarus are (with perhaps occasional exceptions) free
to travel abroad; but the cost of such travel is prohibitive for
most. 
A typical monthly Pension would now be equivalent to less than $30
(thirty US dollars).  
International consumer goods are available to some extent, at
standard international prices; eg about $1 for a 2-liter bottle of
Sprite or Mineral Water.

----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------

(1) ZIV (GRISHA) HOSID  -- BASIC INFORMATION

Contact in Grodno is Ziv (Grisha) HOSID, Tel:  00375--152--440795
Fluent in Yiddish (his mother-tongue), Russian, Polish, Hebrew,
and English (although he expressed an interest in receiving more
books in English, to improve his English.).  
His wife teaches English.
He is a retired physics teacher, who now teaches Hebrew at the
Jewish center in Grodno.   
His address is:
Grigozy HOSID                          
17th of September Street, Number 14/1 Apartment 1
230029 Grodno, Belarus
Telephone:  00375---152--440795
                                            
----------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND NOTES ON GRODNO (from ZC)
Again:  ZC spoke to me in much detail; I took only a few notes,
some inaccurate; this is what I have, from notes and
recollections.

Grodno was about 85% Jewish at the turn of the century; in the
1920's it was about 40% Jewish, but the center of the Grodno was
almost entirely Jewish.

Jews had first settled there adjacent to the Castle; apparently
invited to facilate trade for the monarch.  The Great Synagogue is
close to the castle; it was (if I understand correctly) designed
in 1598 by R. Menachem Jaffe (the Lavush; of whom R. Nochem Jaffe
of Grodno is a descendent (per the Jewish Encyclopedia, as I have
noted in my geneology files on my Homepage,
http://www.kinneret.co.il/sa9802
           
Before WWII, Many distinguished chazans were at the Great
Synagogue of Grodno, including Moshe Koussivitsky.               

Grodno was captured by the Germans in 1 day; for that reason the
city was in large part spared destruction, but for the same
reason, the Jews were almost all doomed; they had no time to
escape the advancing army.
Fewer than 200 Jews from Grodno survived the Shoah.

Grodno was also recaptured quite quickly by the Russians at the
turning of WWII.                                   

Because Grodno was one of the less-damaged cities after WWII, many
Jews came there immediately after the War.  By now there are some
3rd-generation Grodno Jewish returnees.

----------------------------------------------------------------
PRESENT JEWISH COMMUNITY IN GRODNO

There are presently about 1000 Jews in Grodno.  However, an exact
count is difficult, with mixed marriages and such.

There is one Sefer Torah.  It had been kept in the Great
Synagogue; but may now be in the home of the man who has charge of
it.
The Great Synagogue is not often used.  
There have been certain jurisdictional disputes that have impeded
the re-development of the Grodno Jewish community.

There is no Sefer Torah in the Jewish Community Center.
The community center has Hebrew/Russian sidurim; it has a few
Machzorim, but in Hebrew only, not Hebrew/Russian.
Russian is the usual language in Grodno; Belarussian has more
nearly the status of a dialect; I suppose spoken in the villages.

The Grodno community center has a traditional (as distinct from
orthodox) kabalat Shabat.  
If I recall, they have an orthodox Shabat morning service.
There is a minyan Mondays and Thursdays.

This year there were 85 people at their Seder; they rented a
restaurant for it (as I gather they have done in previous years
for holidays.)

In MINSK, BELARUS, there are about 30,000 Jews.
On 12 April 1999 the doors of the synagogue in Minsk were burned.
This is an act of minor vandalism that one often reads of in the
xUSSR.  Apparently TV coverage in Belarus condemned the act.
----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND NOTES:  GRODNO IN THE SHOAH (my notes of a much more
detailed account, by ZC).

When Germany conquered the Grodno region of Poland, it annexed
that region.   The region to the East, "Ostland", was regarded by
Germany as part of Russia.  As Germany conquered parts of Russia,
the German armed forces shot Jews on the spot, usually rounding
them up and forcing them to dig a mass grave.
But because Germany regarded the Grodno region as part of Germany,
it behaved in a macabrely more ostensibly "civilized" manner; Jews
in the Grodno region were not immediately killed, but were forced
into a Ghetto.  
There was no uprising in the Grodno ghetto.
                             
Jews in the outlying villages apparently remained there.     
The Jews in Grodno were forced to work without pay for the
Germans, under very difficult conditions.  They were told and
believed, at least at first, that they would be sent from the
Grodno Ghetto to forced-labour camps.

On 1 Nov 1942 all the Jews in the surrounding towns, including the
shetl of AMDUR (INDURA) were sent by the Germans to be murdered.  
They were driven from the town of INDURA, under guard, on foot and
(for those who could not walk) on peasant carts, to Grodno.
They were first sent to a former POW camp in ________ ?Herbace?
(can't read my handwriten  notes), where they existed in terrible
conditions for several weeks.   Then they were sent (by train, I
assume) to the murder camps, most to Treblinka, some to Auchwitz. 
Very few Jews from the shetl of INDURA survived.

---------------------------------------------------------------

(2) ZIV HOSID'S ACCOUNT OF THE GRODNO GHETTO, AND OF HIS ESCAPE
FROM THE TRAIN, AND JOURNEY TO FIND THE PARTISANS

After jumping out of a train bound for Treblinka, and after
several months of walking through snow and avoiding both Poles and
Germans, he found and served with the Jewish Partisans during
WWII, and was drafted in the Soviet militia at the end of the war.

He has videotaped his account for Yad VaShem (in Hebrew), and, if
I understood, for the Spielberg project.                        
On Yom HaShoah he told me part of the story of his escape, and of
prior conditions in the Grodno Ghetto; I will try later to write
down what I can recall of that account.


He was subsequently a high school physics teacher; and subsists on
a government Pension; inflation has reduced the value of that to
about US$ 30 a month.


He will be on a tour of Belarus Jewish community leaders to
Israel, the tour starts April 25, lasts for a week, and I think
begins in Jerusalem; he did not yet know where they will stay.  He
will then stay another 2 weeks in Israel.

---------------

On Yom HaShoah Ziv Hosid spoke to me eloquently, and in much
detail, with apparently completely clear and fully detailed
recollection, of his escape and journey.  I can remember now only
a few points.
As I understand, he has taped his account for Yad VaShem (in
Hebrew, videotape) and for the Spielberg project (I suppose in
English, and on videotape); both take up about 2 full video
cassettes.  He hopes to obtain a dictating system -- I suppose a
simple Walkman-style cassette player/recorder -- and might then
have time to dictate further accounts.

He spoke to me about the Grodno ghetto in detail, on Yom Shoah.
It was located between the railroad station and the present Hotel
Belarus.
A plaque marks the entrance to it

THE REST OF THIS SECTION IS NOT PLEASANT TO READ OF, AND SOME MAY
PREFER NOT TO.

All Jews had to live in the ghetto.  A young woman and her
'boyfriend' who tried to live outside the ghetto were caught and
hung from a balcony railing on the main street.  Her father, as
the head of the family, was also hung.

The Jews in the ghetto were not allowed to have food there.  They
were forced to work for the Germans outside the ghetto; and were
given food at work.  When they returned at night to the ghetto
they were usually checked by the Gestapo; anyone trying to smuggle
food into the ghetto, for the rest of the family who were not
working outside the ghetto, would be beaten, at best.          

Once ZC went to work in Grodno for a German company -- the wagon
driver, a Pole, was stealing fat, and the company noticed 20 kg
were missing, so of course the Jews were blamed.  The Gestapo
asked ZC to tell them who took it.  ZC would not say the driver
did it, and would not say who the driver sold it to, because he
felt, a Pole stealing from the Germans, this is not wrong.  So the
Gestapo beat him, he could not lie on his back for 6 months.  And
then after some days they took him to a slaughter-house, and
showed him the hooks on which they hang the meat, and said, we
will hang you by the neck from a hook if you do not tell.  And
just then the driver came by and said (if I recall the story
correctly) that he took it.

Those caught outside the ghetto were taken to a courtyard in the
ghetto and shot, in such a way that they were hours dying.  That
was witnessed by several young women who hid in a dormer space at
the top of the building.

Those who tried to escape into the country could not expect to get
food or shelter from the Poles in the coutryside; they would
sometimes accept such offers, and then be turned over to the
Germans, who would shoot them.   It was so bad that two (if I
recall the number) Jews who had escaped into the country, and
could find nothing to eat, went up to a Polish peasant and asked
him to turn them in to the Germans.  He did, and asked the German
for his reward; the German beat him.

Ziv Hosid was then about 18 years old.  One time he escaped a
round-up of Jews, by hiding on the top of the Aron Kodesh in the
synagogue, the ornamental 'paroket'(?) at the top shielded him
from their view.

        
People had to leave the ghetto to get food where they worked --
the Germans did not allow any food to be brought into the ghetto.


The Germans would assemble up to 2200 Jews, and ship them out to
the murder Camps.
On 13 February 1943 (if I have that date correct) , ZC was in a
group of Jews who were forced into the synagogue and kept there
for 24 hours.  
On 14 February 1943 the were driven (I suppose that means, driven
on foot) near the present railroad station, and put on a train
bound for Treblinka.  There were 2000 men on that train, they were
murdered 14 February 1943 in Treblinka.  (I am not clear if only
men were in that group that was sent then.)

The train ZC was on was a passenger train, with people packed so
close that one could not move.  In the synagogue he heard several
young men talk of jumping out, and so he stayed near them,
intending to also jump out.  The windows were small.  There was a
queue waiting to jump out the window.  The Germans would shoot
anyone who looked out the window or put a hand out the window.  So
the others were afraid to jump.  (I think he said one other person
jumped, I don't recall.)  ZC was waiting in the queue, he kept
saying, let me jump, and the one at the window said wait, I'm
going to jump, but didn't.  Finally someone said, let him jump,
and so ZC got to the window.  He does not know where the German
shooters were shooting from; because he could not look out to see.

Sometimes the train would go fast, sometimes slow.  ZC decided to
wait until it was going fast, to jump.  A strong wind was blowing.

I think he said it was dark.  By then the train was past
Bialystock.   They did not shoot at him until he was already out
of the window and on the ground.  He ruined his shoes in the jump,
but dod not break a bone.  He got away without being wounded. 
Very soon he fell through the ice in a marsh, and climbed out,
covered with ice.
There is much of his story that I do not now recall.
At one point 4 young men Poles grabbed him, and were going to
throw him off a bridge, through the ice in the river.  It was not
a very high bridge, but that probably would have been fatal.  Just
then an old Polish man came by.  He said to the young Poles (I do
not recall ZC's retelling of his words; it was quite eloquent): 
He has enough of a burden, let him go the way he came.  (The old
man's point was -- this Jew is already suffering enough for the
guilt of the Jews, let him continue with that burden.)  So the
younger men let him go.  ZC said:  The Poles were taught by the
Church, the Jews killed Jesus.

One day ZC found a man lying on the frost (I think it was frost,
but maybe frost-covered frozen snow.)  He spoke to him in Polish,
but the man did not answer.  Then he spoke to him in Yiddish.  The
man embraced him, and burst into tears.  
Apparently he had been with a group that was taken to a pit and
machine-gunned.  He was not hit, but fell into the bit, and was
under a pile of bodies.  That time the Germans did not immediately
cover the bodies in dirt.  After dark, he was able to climb out.

If I recall, he was not from Grodno, but had somehow made his way
to the Grodno ghetto, where he was caught; and then jumped off a
train; but I may misremember all that.
 
He was a shoemaker, and never went out of the house without his
simple shoemaker's tools, so he was able to repair ZC's shoes.  By
then ZC had no feeling at all in his toes; yet apparently he did
not succumb to frostbite.
ZC and this shoemaker traveled together for a long time.  They met
many years later, the shoemaker, who was about 40 at the time of
WWII, was then in his 90s.  ZC said:  If it was not for him, maybe
I would not have survived, not had the strenght to keep going. 
Two is easier than one.

Once they went into a peasant's house.  The peasant's young wife
was there, nursing her baby.  She greeted them very politely,
using the word for gentlemen, and said, sit down, my husband will
be home soon, and he will give you food.  They almost immeidately
fell asleep, from the warm room and from weakness.  ZC woke up to
find someone pulling at him, saying come out, Jew.  It was the
husband, with a rifle.  ZC said, no one saw us come in, if you do
not want to feed us, let us go as we came.  But the man got on his
horse, and made them walk in front of him, one on each side of the
horse, to take them to the gendarmerie, (I think 'gendarmerie'
means, German police.)
ZC gave a wink to the shoemaker, and he and ZC ran in opposite
directions, into the woods.  The snow was frozen, so they did not
leave tracks.  At one point ZC was lying down on the ground, in
the underbrush, and looked up and saw the peasant on his horse
with his rifle, but the peasant did not see him.

They came to another ghetto -- I think they Lyda ghetto? -- ZC had
wanted to return to the Grodno ghetto, because his mother and I
think sister had not been on the train -- he knew, because they
had not been in the synagoguge, from which everyone was sent to
the train -- and he thought they were still there -- but then he
heard that all the Jews had been taken away from Grodno.

The shoemaker and some other people said they would go out and
join the partisans, but they did not tell ZC.  So he hid by the
break in the fence where people went out, and when they came out
he followed them.  A partisan came out of the woods.  ZC was
following them, and the partisan saw him.  The partisan said, I
have no orders to take you, I must shoot you, and he put his
pistol to ZC's head.  ZC said, take me or shoot me, I have no
where else to go except to the partisans; to stay in the ghetto is
to be killed sooner or later.  The partisan said, I can not shoot
you here, it would make a noise and bring the Germans, I have to
shoot you later.  ZC said, you had no orders also to take these
other people, I am sure they are good people -- the shoemaker, and
a woman, and (if I recall) her daughter -- but I could maybe be 
more useful to you partisans than they will be.  So they walked
and came to the partisans, and ZC was accepted into the partisans.


But I did not hear the story of his time with the partisans.  I
gather that, like many,  he does have some military decorations; I
don't know if that is for work with the partisans. 
                        
---------------------------------------------------------------

LODGING IN BELARUS
----------------------------------------------------------------

I have been told:  Do not hail a taxi on the street; have someone
at your hotel or some such call you a licensed taxi; because
sometimes the mafia ride around driving unlicensed taxis, so if
you look like a prosperous reprentative of a MultiNatinal
Corporation (of which I look approximately like the absolute 
opposite of, not least during sefirat haOmer) you might go on a
one-way ride, especially if your presumed Multinational
Corporation has not budgeted ransom money or does not exist)
But ZC said, usually there is no problem.

Best place to stay is the Hotel Belarus, about 2 km. from the
train station.  Hotel Belarus is simple, inexpensive (about $5/day
for foreigners), safe.   Can maybe get a solid meal at the
restaurant for $2.  Toilet paper is scarce in Belarussia, even in
such hotels; so bring your own.
You will probably need a reservation; the telephone number is 44-
16-74 (in Grodno; ie:  00375---152--44-16-74).  I think they speak
only Russian.  I think they take Mastercharge and VISA.  
The Hotel Belarus is recommended in Let's Go/Europe.


There is a "Kantor" (money-exchange) in the hotel lobby.  (One is
not allowed to take Belarus currency out of the country.  I was
told, take dollars;  or at least Deutschemarks; Swiss francs will
not be accepted. But maybe now the Kantor's take all hard
currencies. )


The Tourist Hotels are located far from the city center and train
station (which is at the center).  There are better-than-tourist-
class hotels, also far from the center.
--------------------------------------------------------------
            
---------------------------------------------------------------
JEWISH COMMUITY IN WARSAW


A very useful, though very busy, contact in Warsaw is Jonah
Bookstein, Program Director for the Lauder Foundation, which is
located at the Warsaw Jewish Center at 6 Twarda St.  That is only
a few blocks from the CENTRAL Railroad Station, and even closer to
the Palace of Culture, the tallest landmark in Warsaw. 
He is from the USA, with strong Hebrew and Polish.  And smicha, it
seems.
(Be sure to get out of the train at the WARSAW -- CENTRUM station
-- that is the one where the train stops in a tunnel.  The other
Warsaw stations are in the Greater Warsaw boondocks.)
His FAX is 0048---22-654-5753 
I think his office phone is:
0048---22-620-3496
If that doesn't work, 
Try calling 0048---22--620--4324 or 0048---22--620-0676, and
asking for his office phone number.
His E-mail is:  jonah@kehillah.jewish.org.pl
I think the Poland Jewish Communites Website (English/Polish) is:
http://www.jewish.org.pl

----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
PROCEDURE FOR GETTING A VISA FOR BELARUS

Contrary to Let's Go/Europe, I see no indication that one could
obtain a transit visa for Belarus while in transit; visas are
checked, not when one changes trains in Poland, but when one is on
the moving train, in Belarus.

Procedure for getting a Visa to go to Belarus (required for
citizens of USA, and of Israel) is:
1)  Go to a Belarus Travel Agency in Warsaw (or elsewhere) and pay
US$ 3 for each day that you want to stay in Belarus.  
In Warsaw it is the KALINKA Travel Agency, ul. Marszalkowska 115 
Telephone:  0048--22--620-5375; probably speak only Polish and
German.
(It is at the back side of the Amerbank Building; which is on the
back side of the Hotel Stassia(?)); that is on the main Avenue,
about 4 long blocks from the Warsaw Jewish Community Center.      

                                   
(I see no reason why one should instead ask someone in Belarus for
an invitation; it might pose difficulties for them; and for
someone living on a standard Belarus government pension of less
than US$ 30 per month, even the cost of sending a FAX of
invitation is almost prohibitive.)

2)  With that voucher, cab to the Belarus Embassy, which is across
the river, at ul. Ateiska 67; open from 09:00 to 13:00.  With 2
standard passport-type photos (which you can take at the automatic
machine at the Central Train Station), apply for a visa.  Simplest
is to apply only for a 'Transit Visa'; to apply for that you must
have in hand a train (or I suppose plane) ticket which takes you
through Belarus; so a train ticket Warsaw--Grodno-Vilnius will do;
a round-trip ticket Warsaw-Grodno-Warsaw will not be acceptable.)
FAX for the Belarus Embassy in Warsaw is:  0048---22--617-8441
To FAX from Belarus, one would call:  870----48---22--617-8441 
Embassy Telephones are:                               617-235?1
                                                      617-3212



3)  The embassy will then give you a payment form; cab back to the
Marriot Hotel, next to the Central Train Station, and pay at the
Bank Handlowy, which is in the Marriot Hotel.

4) Do not immediately return to the Belarus Embassy with your
receipt; return with it when you are to pick up your visa.  For
same-day service, you must return after 14:00 but before 15:00;
charge for a same-day 1-time Transit Visa is US$60; bank accepts
Swiss Francs.

5) Upon entering Belarus, you must fill out a simple customs form,
noting the ammounts of money you have in all currencies.  Keep
that form, upon leaving Belarus, you must fill out a similar form;
and the two may be compared.   Luggage is inspected upon leaving
Belarus.
ZC notes that one is not allowed to take Belarus currency out of
the country.

----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
VILNIUS:

In Vilnius, the Hotel Gintaras, located within sight of the
railroad station, behind MacDonald's, is simple and adequate;
single room US$ 16 per night, including breakfast.   Excellent
view, good simple cafe.  
Address is Sou g. 14; Telephones:  73-8011; and 73-8012
Let's Go says:  You will need advance reservations; but maybe
Let's Go only travels in summer.

This hotel stands at the edge of the former Vilna Ghetto
From the hotel, one proceeds downhill into the former Jewish
section, which retains some Jewish buildings and has some memorial
markers.                                                  

The Rudninko Vartai Hotel is more luxurious; it is at the
intersection of Pylmio and Rudninko streets, about half a block
from the memorial plaque for the Vilna Ghetto; that plaque is at
#18 Rudniko Street, which is now a Business Center.

There is a fully restored Synagogue at about Pylimo #38.  The
inscription on the fron Lintel reads:  Ki BITI BeIT TFiLaH YQaRA
L_KOl H_XaMIM -- "For My House will be called a House of Prayer
for all Peoples" (Isiah).


The headquarters of the Lithuanian Jewish Community are at 4
Pylmio; that also houses the Vilna Gaon Jewish Museum.

To return to Poland from Vilnius without re-entering Belarus (for
which you would need a new transit visa, or to have obtained a
multiple-use transit visa, which is probably more expensive and
maybe less easy to get), one takes the train (Leaving 07:15; there
is only one a day) from Vilnius to Sestokai (Lithuania), and then
the train from Sestokai to Warsaw (via Bialystock). 

---------------------------------------------------------------
BIALYSTOCK

I stayed at the Hotel Turkus; Telephone:  085--65-13-278.
Price for a single room was about $25, and they were quite
considerate; washing and mending my clothes, and refusing to take
payment.  It is a 10 minute walk away from town, from the Train
Station.  A simple breakfast of Nescafe, bread, butter, cheese,
and eggs scrambled in butter; rather a relief not to have to make
excuses for refusing ham.  The truck-stop next door dispenses
coffee ground on the spot from coffee beans, at half the price of
the Nescafe of course.

The Hotel Cristal, in town, has rooms at about $50, including a
fitness room with jacuzzi etc.

There is a good Internet Cafe on the main street.  Present rule of
thumb is:  Hotmail is impossibly slow in Poland; mail.excite is
OK.

The site of the former Great Synagogue of Bialystock, in which
much of the congregation was murdered by the Nazis, had a memorial
plaque, in Polish an Yiddish; the inscription includes a name,
often used as an adjective, which, I am told, the Lubavitcher
Rebbe said ought to be blotted out.  The term 'Nazi' will do
instead.



---------------------------------------------------------------
WROCLAW, Poland (formerly Breslau, Germany prior to 1945). 

This is another topic, which I will write up later.
I stayed there at the Hotel Zaulek; Telephones:  402--945; and
402--946.    Quite charming, run by the University of Wroclaw;
about $50/night for a single room; located in the Old Town area,
which is the University area; about a 20 minute walk from the
Great Synagogue and (active) Jewish Community center of Wroclaw.

------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER IN GRODNO

Ziv Hosid became president of the Jewish Cultural Society (of
Grodno, I take it -- my notes are incomplete) in 1991.
Before WWII there were 43 synagogues in Grodno.  The community
then tried to get back 1 synagogue from the State.  They asked for
the Great Synagogue of Grodno.  It has about 30 rooms, in addition
to the Great Hall.
An offer of an outside donation for renovation etc. probably
persuaded the authorities to return the Great Synagogue to the
Jewish community.      
ZC then set up an orthodox congregation (he is throughly grounded
in orthodox halacha, etc., as far as I can tell.)

The community had wanted for its President, Mr. Ginzburg, a
physician.  However, apparently at the last moment, Mr. Ginzburg
proposed instead a Mr. Boyarsky, who was not well-known within the
Jewish community.
In 1994 the Jewish community of Grodno got a Rabbi, from Israel;
but Mr. Boyarsky persuaded the authorities that his visa ought not
be renewed.  At a meeting of the Congregation, attended by 80
persons, all voted to retain the Rabbi, except for Mr. Boyarsky,
who abstained.  The Grodno community has not had a rabbi since
then.
Because of disputes, the Grodno community activities moved out of
the Great Synagogue, into the present community center.

Dr. Felix Zandman, a successful Israel businessman with plants in
Holon, Dimona, and the Galillee, contributed money for restoration
of the Great Synagogue, and has offered to contribute more,
subject to a satisfactory progress report.   An initial grant was
for $10T; $8T was spent; the balance remains in the non-profit
fund, in which is subject to taxation.
ZC found a ghetto survivor who is a bulding engineer, who
supervised restoration work for about 20% of the usual cost.


Since then, I gather, the community has not had a rabbi;
apparently ZC is the only person associated with the commuity who
can leyn Torah (read from a Sefer Torah with the required
cantillation).                             


The address of the Jewish Center in Grodno is:

Hessed-Nohum, Bogdanowicz Street 6, 230023 Grodno, Belarus.
Telephone/FAX:  00375---152--441310; 
Telephone:  00375---152--446246.  

This is a rather small complex of rooms, all neatly painted white,
on the ground floor of an apartment building.  I gather that there
is not too much fear of theft.  (Certainly not compared to
Manhtattan).  
It is comfortable looking center, not in apparent need of fixing
up; but ZC says it is small, and they might at some point be
obliged to leave by the authorities -- they have it only on a
rental basis (I think they pay rent, and are not given it without
charge), so the authoroties might say, we need it for something
else.               

There are Hebrew/Russian siddurim, and a few Hebrew (only)
Machzorim.  I did not notice whether or not they have Chumashim,
and Hagaddot, and kiddush/havadalah etc. paraphenalia.

There is one Sefer Torah; that is not in this community center.  I
gather that it was in the Great Synagogue, but may now be in the
home of whoever has charge of it.
ZC seemed to suggest that there might be some problems in properly
housing and safeguarding a sefer toarh in the community center.

There is no computer there.               
It seems to me that the proper configuration would be a used
system, maybe a 486 or even 386, with CD-ROM and Internet.  
There is a now a wealth of Jewish religious software, especially
on CD-ROM; one might ask the producers -- I think TorahSoft, in
Jerusalem, is a major producer; they may be in Mea She'arim -- to
donate copies.
And of course there are many Jewish Websites.
And also, E-mail is the best way to communicate.


ZC does not like to ask for anything; I tried to ask him many
times what I could bring, or what the community would need.
Jonah Bookstein thought, they need clothing; but I would say that
the people on the street were well-dressed, especially compared to
me.  But maybe solid work-shoes are prohibitively expensive there.

ZC did express a wish for a dual-cassette player with built-in
short-wave radio, so that he can tape Hebrew broadcasts from
Israel Radio, to use in his Hebrew ulpan classes.  Israel radio
broadcasts to Belarus on short-wave, frequencies range from 41 to
16 meters.  It only broadcasts a few times a day, or less, which
does not coincide with the class schedule.  If the radio and
cassette player are in the same box, one can tape directly from
broadcast to tape.

He also expressed a hope for a recording device -- in effect, a
Walkman-style cassette player with mic/RECORD (since there seems
no reason to use the micro-cassete dictaphones) -- so that he can
maybe tape some more of his recollections.  

There is not a Jewish kindergarten; setting one up would require
licensing from the government, which has various requirements; I
think including a building for same.  There is a seperate group
for Jewish children within one of the Belarus state kindergartens.
This has been functioning since March 23, 1999.  There are
presently 8 children in it; and it will grow at the rate of 2
children per month.  They expect to have 12 children in it in two
months.      
Cost is paid by the world Council of Progressive Judaism; some
help is also expected from the Joint Distribution Fund.
The children are brought to the school by mini-bus.

There is a youth group, with approximately 20 members.

There is a Hebrew Ulpan, without between 30 and 35 students.  Many
leave for Israel as olim.  This is funded by the Jewish Agency
(Saknut), which sends the Ulpan materials.  

There is a book about Grodno, in Hebrew.

The community receives some support materials from the Jewish
Community in MINSK.

The community center has a Video-cassette player, in PAL and SECAM
formats (but apparently not NTSC format, as I understood ZC). 
I did not notice what video cassetts they have.

ZC asked for a copy of AMDUR MEIN GEBOIRN-SHTETL (by Yedidya
Efron).  He is fluent in Yiddish; and would seem to be the best
imaginable translator, if he has time to dicate a translation (and
a recorder and tapes to dicatate same -- even purchasing casette
tapes in Belarus would probably be quite difficult for him.)


I did not ask about nor otherwise learn about the resources for
doing Jewish Geneology in Grodno.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GRODNO JEWISH COMMUNITY

This is a somewhat problematic topic; and what follows are merely
my own opinions:

One might most efficiently direct contributions to ZC, as (unpaid)
head of the Jewish Cultural organization.
The President of the Jewish community is Mr. Boyarsky, he remains
recognized by the Belarus government, although the congregation
had asked some years ago that he step down.
There is a pushke in the Grodno Great Synagogue, to which Mr.
Boyarsky holds the keys; I gather that he regularly opens the
Great Synagogue for tourists in the summer.
There is a registered non-profit charitable account for the Jewish
Community of Grodno; however, contributions to that account are
subject to state taxation; and it is rather a complicated
procedure (though possible) for the the community to withdraw
funds deposited to that account (if I understand).
                            
                   
SITUATION OF JEWISH CEMETARIES IN AND AROUND GRODNO

Jews are no longer permitted to bury in the Jewish cemetary; so
they are buried in eclectic cemetaries -- which hold Russian
orthodox, Russian secular, Jewish, and I think some Roman Catholic
-- though it's my impression that Roman Catholic have their own
cemetary -- in INDURA there is the Roman Catholic Cemetary, and
next to it is the cemetary for everyone else.  Anyone could put up
what they please for a memorial -- Roman Catholic cross, Russian
Orthodox cross, Jewish Star, 5-pointed Russian Communist star.    

            
(This is the reason that Eli Goldfand was not buried in a Jewish
cemetary:  burial in a Jewish cemetary is presently not permitted
in the Grodno region; I don't know if that is the case for all of
Belarus.  I do not think his widow is particularly inclined to
Russian orthodox practice; I think it is simply that the Russian
orthodox section of the cemetary was the section in which he
could be buried.)

Opposite the Hotel Belarus was the "New" Jewish cemetary -- from
about mid 1700's.  It survived the war, but then the Russian
Communists leveled it to make an athletic center and park.  A
large, featureless, lonely park.
(Incidentally, the old Jewish cemetary in Wroclaw also survived
the war, but was then leveled by the Russian Communist dominated
government, supposedly to build something, which was never built.)

The gravestones of the Grodno cemetary were all taken away; ZC
thinks some are in the great statue of Lenin nearby .  (Which
makes the egel zahav look darned near frum.) 
                                                 
The Grodno Jewish cemetary was used until recently -- about 1957,
if I recall.  It seems now to be in good condition, although as
noted no further Jewish burials are allowed in (though there is
apparently plenty of room.)  A caretaker lives in what was
formerly the burial society building, next to the cemetary.  There
had been theft of gravestones -- these are valuable, so thieves
take them, blast away the engraved letters, and cut in the letters
for a new stone.  Also there is some wanton vandalism; all that
occurred some years ago, but has recently been reparied, so the
cemteary now looks good.  The iron gate is locked, which should
discourage further thefts.
I don't know if there is more that needs to be done to safeguard
that cemetary, or if more could be done; there is no other
building within sight of it, as far as I noticed, so if the
watchman is negligent, but has been given that house by the state
-- I'm not clear if that is the case -- then I'm not sure what
more could be done.  

ZC says there are about 50 small Jewish cemetaries --- village
cemetaries, I suppose -- surrounding Grodno; I gather that all are
unprotected, and subject to theft of gravestones, and some
vandalism.              
Also there is some grave-robbing, even for gold fillings of teeth.
Some years ago ZC and a rabbi from Israel dealt with such
desecration of one cemetary.
Apparently such desolation of cemetaries is common in Europe; if I
understood; and some non-Jewish cemetaries are also vandalized.   

In general, much of the matevas of Jewish cemetaries in Europe, at
least Eastern Europe, have been lost to such theft.

ZC said, to guard them, you would need 3 shifts, and a guard-
house, at each cemetary.
----------------------------------------------------------------
THE CEMETARY AT AMDUR (INDURA)                                    

 
ZC pointed out that, although there are many stones in the
cemetary of AMDUR (INDURA), most have been lost -- presumably
taken away -- because one no longer sees rows of stones, even
where there are rows of mounded graves.

The cemetary is unfenced.  The synagogue is visible from most
points on it.

I saw practically no obvious desecration, with one exception,
which ZC brought to my notice:  There is just one raised 'kevre'
(if that's the right term) in the cemetary; ZC thinks it is
probably of a famous rabbi.  I seem to think it might be of one of
the sons of R. Hayim Heikel of Amdur; maybe I read that somewhere.
That kevre had apparently been forced or blasted open, a piece
lies at too much distance from it to have simply fallen.  There is
some litter now in the kevre, though that may bespeak only
slovenliness, not intentional desecration.  But there is a
skeleton of a dead dog alongside it; and that may bespeak more
than negligence.  And a few broken bottles.  I failed to try to
tidy things up; maybe someone else will.

ZC says Eli Goldfand was long angry with the villagers, for
letting their cows graze on the synagogue.  Miriam Margoyles told,
and ZC told to me, that once a cow, or a few cows (I forget which)
were struck by lightening while grazing on the that cemetary hill
(which is the only hill in that area), and since then the
villagers, who took that as Divine retribution, do not graze their
cows there.

A woman in a house next to the cemetary, where ZC parked his 17-
year-old Russian car (which he rarely uses) offered to sell us
eggs.    

I took about 35 photos of tombstones in the INDURA cemetary (I
probably photographed some stones twice); I have had 3 of those
photos them SCAN'd to disc at the Kodak Express shop here in
Warsaw; and have sent those out to several of the more active
geneologic workers in the the de facto AMDUR* discussion group, in
particular to Warren Blatt at jewishgen.org, and to
jemder@snip.net (Jerry Emder)
Others might request copies from them.  Each photo takes about
250K, and costs about $2.50 to SCAN to Disc.
I will also try to post these photos to a new mail address,
probably SAmdur1@mail.excite.com   Password carwash; so that they
can be retrieved from there, as a sort of Bulletin Board.  (Do not
write to that address). 


Cost is about $2.50 per SCAN'd photo; some
resolution is lost in the SCAN.  I took those photos with a Canon
camera which my brother gave me when I first went to Israel, in
1984; I am not an experienced photographer.  Resolution of the
photos seems fairly good. 
I also SCAN'd to Disc 3 photos of the town of AMDUR; and have 5
more; although I only viewed it from 3 locations:  in front of the
synagogue, on top of the cemetary hillock, and by the brook (and
also along the two main, paved roadways, though I did not
photograph from there.       

OK:  If folks want the rest of these matzevas photos SCAN'd to
disc and sent on, send me an E-mail NOW; with a commitment to
cover expenses.   I'd also like to get the balance of AMDUR MEIN
GEBOIRN-SHTETL translated.

PASTE IN =photos.txt

=photos.doc

This is the readme doc for the subdirectory \steve\photos

These are all photos from my visit to INDURA (=AMDUR) on 13 April
99 (Yom haShoah), guided by Ziv Hosid.

There are 10 photos that I took, and 1 photo of Eli Goldfand, z'l,
which his widow, Ludmilla, gave me.

These photos were SCAN'd to disc at the Kodak Express shop on
Avenue John Paul II, a block from the Jewish Center.
Cost is PLN 10 per SCAN'd photo.
There is some loss in resolution from print to SCAN (as I was told
by the chap who does the SCAN's at the Kodak shop.)

One can also get a color xerox of the prints, eg at the Canon shop
by the Orbis Travel Agency just up from the Grand Hotel Warsawa. 
4 photos can be SCAN'd on one page, at a cost of PLN 3.50/page.
There seems to be more loss in resolution on colour xerox than on
SCAN-to-disc; and of course one cannot ZOOM.


The 10 photos consisted of:

Photo of Eli Goldfand, z'l, taken 1940, as a soldier in the Red
Army =image.jpg

3 photos of the synagogue at AMDUR (INDURA), taken from  
front =pict6.jpg 
right (as you stand in front) =pict7.jpg
back sides.  =pict8.jpg

1 photo of the former mikveh/bathhouse, used after WWII and used
as a communual bathhouse  =pict0.jpg

3 photos of matzevas (tombstones) from the cemetary in AMDUR. 
=pict1.jpg, =pict2.jpg, =pict3.jpg

1 photo of the hillock -- not a high hill -- which comprises the
cemetary.   =pict4.jpg

1 photo of houses in the town of AMDUR (INDURA)  =pict9.jpg

1 photo of the grave of Eli Goldfand, z'l, with his widow standing
next to it.  =pict5.jpg

So in numerical order, that is:
=image.jpg -- Photo of Eli Goldfand, z'l, taken 1940, when he was
a soldier in the Red Army.

=pict0.jpg -- Indura, former mikveh/bathouse, used after WWII as
bathhouse

=pict1.jpg -- Cemetary of Indura, Matzevas 

=pict2.jpg -- Cemetary of Indura, Matzeva

=pict3.jpg -- Cemetary of Indura, Matzeva

=pict4.jpg -- Indura cemetary, which is on a hillock

=pict5.jpg -- Mrs. Eli (Ludmilla) Goldfand, at the grave of her
husband, Eli Goldfand, z'l, in the all-faiths section of the
presently used Indura cemetary

=pict6.jpg -- Synagogue of AMDUR (INDURA), viewed from front

=pict7.jpg -- Synagogue of AMDUR (INDURA), viewed from back

=pict8.jpg -- Synagogue of AMDUR (INDURA), viewed from right (as
you face the front door)

=pict9.jpg -- Town of Amdur, viewed from in front of the
synagogue.

sa 19 April 99  11:18  Netzach sh'b' TIFERET
END INSERT OF =photos.txt
--------------------------------------------------------------
THE TOWN OF INDURA

Indura is approximately 26 kilometers from the outskirts of
Grodno.  After passing through the industrial outskirts of Grodno,
on a road with much automobile traffic, one is in the countryside.

Fields that are slightly rolling, birch trees, pine trees.  Fields
ploughed for spring planting.  Mostly small ploughed areas, not
the great grain fields one sees further south, in Poland.
The town of Indura seems much less changed, from the description
in Yedidya Efron's book AMDUR MEIN GEBOIRN SHETL, written of the
town as it was in the 1890's, than one might expect.
However, I did not walk amongst the small houses on the dirt lanes
that are grouped in front and to the left of the Synagogue.  So I
can not say what remains of the town as it was in the last
century.

The synagogue is a large red-brick building, two stories and roof-
dormer rooms.  The houses are small, wood with I think tin roofs,
probably only a few rooms; I'm sure without indoor plumbing. 
Chickens are all about; and some villagers have a cow.  A very
small brook runs through the town.

After WWII, a few Jews remained in (ie, returned to) INDURA.

----------------------------------------------------------------

ELIAHU ben PESACH GOLDFAND, z'l

Eliahu Goldfand was the last fully (ie matrilineally) Jew in the
town of Indura.                               

He was born in 1919; and died (I gather) a year ago last winter;
so that would be, winter 1998.

He survived the Shoah because in 1939 he had been drafted into the
Red Army.  He volunteered for the front, although as someone from
the (now-Belarus, then 'White Russia') region, and as a Jew, he
would otherwise not have been sent into combat (Stalin did not
trust the White Russians.)
To serve on the front, he lied (maybe concealing the fact that he
was Jewish; I'm not clear), and then ran away from the non-combat
unit to which he had been posted, and went to a combat unit.
He was wounded twice, once seriously.
After the War he returned to INDURA.

He reached the rank of Sergeant, and was quite decorated.         

His wife, LUDMILLA Goldfand, continues to live in their house in
INDURA, on one of the paved streets.
They met after the war, is from the Khazakstan region.  She
volunteered for training in a program for women snipers; of 2000
women in that school, only 700 survived the war.  She received
distinguished decorations, and still carries some shrapnel from a
wound.

He was devoted to his friends, and helped everyone that he could,
without being asked.  Ziv Hosid, himself quite an exceptional
person, speaks of Eli Goldfand with great admiration; and says,
the town of Amdur is an empty place now that he is gone.  He and
Mrs. Goldfand were quite glad to again have an opportunity to sit
down and talk.   

ZC thinks there is a bus that runs from Grodno to Indura, and I
think we saw it; but probably very infrequent.  ZC has a 17-year-
old Russian car, which he only takes out a few times a year. 
Nowadays in Belarus even a simple matter like replacing a
refrigerator timer can take a quarter of a Pensioneer's monthly
income.

Mrs. Ludmilla Goldfand's address is:
Rogachevsko 73
Indura
Grodnisk Rayon
231712 BELARUS               

Living in the country, she makes most of her own food.  I think
she has come chickens, and a neighbor gave her some milk, from
which she made sweet cheese.  Water is from a well, I think; there
was an electric pump, but it's broken. 

Their daughter, a neuro-physician, married to an engineer, lives
in Minsk.         
She had some difficulty being accepted into a medical school in
Minsk, because she was Jewish.  It happened that the wife of the
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Uruguay was Jewish (he
was not), from the town of AMDUR.  When they came to the USSR on
some visit, she asked to visit the town of AMDUR.  They had been
neighbors to Eli Goldfand before the War.   
She asked Mrs. Goldfand for permission to bake, in her home, a
loaf of black rye bread, as they did when she was growing up
there.  She baked it and took it back to her husband in Moscow.
Mrs. Goldfand said, my daughter is not being accepted into medical
school, but here are her grades, which are very good.
She said,  when the daughter again takes the entrance exam for
medical school, let her know.  It happened that they were not able
to reach her before that happened, but the daughter was accepted
into medical school.

They have two sons:  One lives in INDURA, and has taken over his
father's position as head of the INDURA grain/flour-mill, located
2 kilometers from Indura.  The mill belonged to a collective farm;
I'm not clear whether or not it still does.
Eli Goldfand had been a vehicle-driver ("chauffeur"); but then
became head of the mill.

The other son lives in Grodno.

A frequent correspondent, and visitor at their home, was:
Professor of Yiddish David Katz
2 Bryn Aber
Fairy Glen Road
Capelo
Gwynded LL34 6Y6
Britain

The reason Eli Goldfand is buried in the all--faiths cemetary
(that is:  Russian orthodox, secular (Communist etc.), Jewish, and
I think some Roman Catholic (although the larger section of the
cemetary is, I think, entirely Roman Catholic -- but I may be
wrong on that) -- is that, since 1967 (I'm not clear on the date,
it may have been:  since 1956, or some time in the 1950's) it has
not been permitted for Jews to bury their dead in the Jewish
cemetary.  (I think this applies only to the Grodno region,
ostensibly as some sort of merely regulartory decision -- although
there remains plenty of room in the surviving Grodno Jewish
cemetary.  But this may be a rule for all Belarussia.)

However, each person is buried with whatever sort of marker his
family prefers -- a Russian orthodox cross, or Roman Catholic
Cross, or Russian Communist 5-pointed star, or Jewish Magen David,
or no emblem.  Eli Goldfand had asked that his grave be marked
with a Magen David, and a stone with that emblem will be placed
when the ground fully settles, maybe in another year.  (It may be
that the expense of a tombstone is an obstacle; I guess they are
quite expensive relative to Belarus income.  But I don't know if
that is the case.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER AMDUR'S FROM THE TOWN OF AMDUR, AND FROM GRODNO

ZC recalls going to school with a beautiful young woman named
AMDURSKY.   As he recalls, she was 12 at the time, and he was 10.
(Apparently the usual name was AMDURSKY, not AMDUR).             
He said, at that age, 2 years is a very big difference.

A family from Grodno named AMDUR emigrated to Israel about 25
years ago, ca. 1975 or 1973.

There is presently a family named AMDUR in Grodno.
----------------------------------------------------------------

THE SYNAGOGUE AT AMDUR

It had been used as a storage area by the Kolhotz (collective
farm), I'm not clear if it still is being so used.  Only one lower
window was not boarded, I climbed up and looked in, but could see
nothing but a metal wall or container.

ZC says that at one point the authorities apparently offered to
return to it to the Jewish community; probably without charge. 
But the community felt it could not accept, because the community
does not have the funds necessary to safeguard and preserve the
building.  ZC suggested that they might still be willing to return
it, at little or maybe even no cost.

SUGGESTION:  One of Mr. Goldfand's sons lives in INDURA, as does
Mr. Goldfand's widow; and the other son lives in Grodno; why not
fund one of them to look after the old synagogue.
One son has taken over his father's position as head of the INDURA
wheat-mill.
Again:  with wages in BELARUS so low, funding a watchman at a
reasonable local salary might not be too expensive.
As noted, Pensions are about $30/month -- indeed, that would be a
rather good pension; ZC indicated that his is about 5.5 million
Belarus rubles, with 300 thousand Belarus rubles = 1 US dollar (as
of 14 April 99).
--------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES ON THE PHOTOS I TOOK AND SCANNED:

What I have SCAN'd is as follows:
3 photos of the town of Amdur, 4 photos of the Synagogue of Amdur
(from each of the 4 sides), 3 photos of matzevas (tombstones) in
the Cemetary of AMDUR.

That leaves me with the following unSCAN'd:  about 32 photos of
matzevas (a few probably of the same tombstone, it was hard for me
to keep track; and there were many with inscriptins that I did not
photograph.
Many had inscriptions that seem readable; but ZC, who I think has
strong religious Hebrew, said, it would take someone quite good to
read them.  
Also:  Another 5 photos of houses in the Town of Amdur, though not
strikingly different from the photos I've Scan'd.
I have serveral more photos of the exterior of the Synagogue, but
those do not add anything.

I did not get into the Synagoguge; I tried to look through the one
unblocked window, but my view was blocked by a metal partition or
strorage bin.

That's about all I have to say for now; though I might find more
to say in response to questions.  
I should give these notes a very good re-write, but it's late, and
I have limited time on a computer, so that will have to wait.

with respects and best wishes to all,
Stephen Benjamin Amdur
Jewish Community Center, Warsaw

18 April 99 -- NeTzaCh sh'b' TiFeReT


=================================================================
               
