Kletsk is a small town with low houses without aynrikhtungen [facilities, installations]. Many of the houses were bent and twisted. It stands in a valley almost unnoticeable. If not for the tall spires of the churches, it would not even be visible.

It was permeated with a monotonous shtilkayt [silence, calmness]. A shtot "city" [larger than a shtetl] in a miniature format – but to us, her children, the Kletsk countrymen, her memory remains precious. Each one of us has specific, pleasant memories of the old country, memories of our childhood; from the religious school days; from der Vaal, where we, as children, during the week of Pesakh, played nuts –there were several traditional games of nuts– from the prisades [a tree-lined road] where we used to take walks; from the Starenyayem and Pankratawitsher forests, where nature is wondrously beautiful; from the Ramishtzer and the Krasnostaver Rivers, where we used to bodn [bathe, swim, enjoy without restraint] on hot summer days, and also, more specific memories that remain deeply etched in our thoughts and will never be forgotten.

In 1928, Kletsk looked a lot better than in earlier years. Specific aynrikhtungen [facilities, utilities] were installed. The Polish government forced the population to brukirn [pave, especially with cobblestones] the streets, and there was nor more mud nor luzhes [plural diminutive of Polish kałuż, puddle].

Because of that, that the pigs suffered. They could no longer eynooren [wallow; literally, snuggle up] in the mud in the middle of the street and take a nap.

An electric station was installed from which electricity was brought into every house, and the streets were illuminated by electric lamps.

Bus transportation was established from Kletsk to:

• Lechovitz [Russian: Lachowicze, Polish: Lyakhavichy]
• Baranovich [Russian:Baranavichy, Polish: Baranowicze]
• Neshviz [Russian:Nesvizh, Polish: Nieśwież]
• Horodia [Russian:Gorodeya, Polish: Horodziej]
• Siniavka [Russian:Sinyavka, Polish: Siniawka]
• Lyakheovitch [a duplicate of Lechovitz?].

The farvalter [managers] were former coachmen who used to drive horse-and-carriage to the same places.

Kletsk stood on a higher and more progressive level –intellectually and financially– in comparison to the surrounding towns like Nyesviezh [the author inexplicably used a different spelling], Lechovitz and so on.

The inhabitants of the aforementioned two towns were envious of the Kletsker Jews, and they viewed Kletsk as a big city! What constituted its big-city-ness? I will try to give you my own reason:

– It was popular because of the Yeshiva [period photos here] where approximately 200 yeshiva bochurs [young men, students] studied, which, at the same time, brought in significant income to the town.

– In 1928, more than 200 children studied in the Talmud Torah [traditional Jewish community school for poor children; period photo here]. The tuition was modest and a large number of the poor residents' children studied for free.

– Approximately 150 children, of more well-to-do parents, studied in the Tarbut school [period photos here and here].

– At that time, there was an enterprising group of Yiddishists who assigned themselves the task of opening a Yiddish school. They encountered a lot of hardship, but they succeeded in accomplishing their undertaking.

– A large number of Kletsker youth studied in gimnazye [high school] and university in Vilnius. But when they completed their studies, they did not have anything to do. They could not get any positions because they were Jews. They became professional loafers, shtekl-dreyer [wand-twirlers, those who pretend to have important positions, but were also not doing anything].

– Intellectually, Kletsk stood, more or less, on a satisfactory level. When one went into a Yiddish or Hebrew reading room, one found a large choice of books.

– The Zionist organization was very active. It supervised the Tarbut school. Its agents represented the school in town institutions.

– At that time, in Kletsk, a Workers Committee was functioning. It's true. But its activity was limited because industry in Kletsk was small and underdeveloped. The Workers Committee was active in the Jewish community events and were also represented in the city institutions.

– Kletsk had a Yiddish drama group [period photo here]. [Amateur actors] performed Yiddish plays in the building of the Polish Bank. The income from the performances was contributed for voiltetike tzvekn [good, pro-active] purposes.

– A charitable tradition in Kletsk was developed. [In previous times] poor folk went from house to house and, from each, requested a penny, a piece of bread, or a few potatoes. That was not respectable and was, alas, humiliating for them. A Lekhem Eniyam [Bread for the Poor] Committee was founded. Every Friday, Zisl Milyer and Lazar Kagan, would drive around from house to house, collecting bread and challah to provide to the poor folk.

– The Bikur Cholim [Visiting the Sick. More here; period photos here.] Society was considered to be the most important institution in Kletsk. From them, the poor population received free medical help and special, suitable meals for the sick. The Bikur Cholim would send the more severely ill to specialists or to the hospitals in Baranovich or Vilna. The medical staff consisted of Doctor Mushkat, Doctor Gelin, the felsher [unlicensed medical practitioner, barber-surgeon] Israel Shklyar. The Bikur Cholim was the only place where the sick Jewish poor could get medical help, because they were discriminated against in the Polish Balnitze [medical clinics].

– The Jewish community consisted of people from various groups. The Rabbi, Reb Chaim Shimon Herenzan [period photo here]; people from businesses and store owners; from the worker's union; from the Agudah [an orthodox-Jewish political party]; from the Zionists, and the Poale Zion [a Jewish Labor Zionist movement, more here]. Even though they were from divergent segments of society, they worked together harmoniously.

In 1928, Kletsk had a serious problem. The system that made hot water for the bod broke down. The Jewish community did not have the money to fix it. Mr. Berel Feinberg (Berel Ostraver), responded and said: Jews, there will be a bath, and so it was. He repaired everything and paid [the expenses]. For a long time, R' Berel took care of the bath without any pay or profit.

As long as we were already at the bod, we would also go into the synagogue and the Beis-Midrash [prayer/study house]. Lehavdl! [Excuse the comparison, connecting the sacred and the profane]. There we could see who was poor and who was rich. How? According to the allocation of the Aliyas [calls to read the Torah] and the places where one prayed: the rich up front, the poor by the door.

Shabbos (Sabbath) during Kriat haTorah [the reading of the Torah], as one visits the Po-les [quiet corners of the shul], one could hear news of the shtetl, news of the world, political arguments, arguments about other assorted issues, and ... just arguments.

In 1928, at the time when anti-Semitism began spreading in Poland, there was a sad occurrence, a boycott against the Jews. In Kletsk at that time, a Polish Stores Cooperative was organized, supported by the Polish government. The owners and managers from each store sent out their people with signs reading We Are For Our Own, Don't Buy From The Jews. They especially demonstrated on Mondays, the day of market or a fair. Each time that I saw a disgraceful sign, my blood would boil. Sometimes, I went into Jewish stores to see the effect on the shopkeepers. They were depressed and silent.

During the period from 1928 until 1939, the news from Kletsk were far from good. The plight of the Jews became worse and worse.

We, in America, began receiving sad news about the terrifying catastrophe that occurred in Kletsk. Ninety-five percent of the Jewish population was killed. As a result of the three-year Nazi occupation our native city was transformed into ruins. The biggest part of the town went up in smoke, and all that remained of the Jewish population was a tragically small number of the rescued.

Kletsk grieves like a mother who has lost her children; she grieves for the thousands of Jewish martyrs, who with their blood soaked her earth. She grieves for the bliendiker [budding/blossoming] youth who have left the world too soon; she grieves for the children and babies, who were murdered in their mothers' arms; she grieves for the thousands who were buried alive, groaning, murmuring their last prayers, when they were already covered with earth.

Kletsk saw the terror in the eyes of the unfortunate and heard their last screams, when they saw death before their eyes.