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My hometown Libivne [Luboml], is located 8
miles from the Bug River, halfway between Kovel
and Chelm. Out of 9,000 inhabitants, 6,000 were
Jews.
A large part of the land on which the town
stood was owned by a Polish poritz [rich landown
er] named Kampyoni. His land contained the
big square marketplace with its brick stores; a
historic hill nearby, and a big orchard that was
open to everyone. The "palace" where Kampyoni
had lived was used as the office of the magistrate,
A group of youths from our town.
and the "hall" served as a cinema where films
were screened until a real movie house was built.
The movie house was owned by partners Yisroel
Royzman [my brother], Abba Grimatlicht, and
Moyshe Fuks. Kampyoni also owned the entire
Polish Street and the small forest that lay below it.
Libivne also had several Chasidic shtiblach
[little houses of prayer].
The town's rabbi, R. Leybish London, used to
pray in the Kotsker shtibl [its Chasidim were the
MY HOMETOWN
By Velvl Royzman
115
followers of the Rebbe of Kotsk]. Among those
who prayed in that shtibl were members of the
Shliver family, who were known for their beautiful
voices. Their praying before the congregation
was famous all over.
The honor of conducting prayers during the
High Holy Days belonged to R. Zeynvel Shliverhe
had a claim to this "job" for all time. When he
would begin to pray Musaf [morning prayer for
Sabbath and holidays], the shtibl would become
dead silent. His Hineni ["Here I am"another
prayer of the High Holy Days] could move a stone;
I will never forget.
In general, the Kotsker Chasidim were known
for the marches and melodies they composed.
The Sabbath night m'lave malke [meal to bid
farewell to Sabbath], with its heartfelt songs and
pious dances, has remained with me as if etched
forever on my mind
There was an old man in the Kotsk shtibl
whose name was R. Koone. People said he was
100 years old, and maybe even more. He used to
live in the Kotsker shtibl, sleeping on a bench
near the stove. During the interval between the
[evening] prayers of Mincha and Ma'ariv, he
would tell stories and events of long ago. He
would begin each story with, "It happened once
that . . ." If someone asked him how long ago was
"once," he would scratch his head and say, "About
50 or 60 years!"
The young people of Libivne were fine youths.
The majority belonged to Zionist parties. The
town had organized a Tarbut school, which educated
the young people in a Zionist spirit. The
town also had a big library that offered a choice of
Hebrew and Yiddish books. Meetings, discussions,
and recreational gatherings brought in an