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Oct. 13, 1995
Building An Exhibition
Luboml's Best of Times and Worst of Times, in Photographs
By Toby Axelrod
When he came to America in 1938 at the age of 9,
Aaron Ziegelman vowed to return to his shtetl,
Luboml, as a rich man bearing gifts for his family.
The dream came true in part: When
Ziegelman went back to Ukraine from New York
last month, local reporters described him as
"Americanski meel-yon-aire bees-nees-man." But
Ziegelman did not come to lavish gifts on his kin.
His 100 cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents
were killed by the Nazis in October 1942, along
with some 4,000 remaining Jews of Luboml.
Ziegelman's purpose was to gather material
and testimony for the Luboml Exhibition Project,
which he inaugurated last year. For his Luboml
hosts, he brought presents. For his lost family,
he brought the El Maleh Rachamim,a mourner's
prayer.
"The only gift I can give them now is an exhibition
dedicated to their lives, so they won't
be forgotten," said Ziegelman, general chairman
of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, who
made the trip with exhibit curator Fred
Wasserman and this reporter, the daughte'r of a
Lubomler.
Again, Ziegelman stood where his family's
home had been on Listopada Street. He asked
Lubomlers if he could draw water from their
wells, to relive a childhood sensation. "It hasn't
changed. It's just the same," he repeated, though
the absence of Jews was as real as the rush of
water from the tipped bucket.
Before we arrived, local elders had talked
mostly to each other about the past. Now, a well
of memories poured forth for new listeners: stories
about Jewish friends, teachers, neighbors,
421
shopkeepers; and destruction, torture, terror,
death. Those memories proved more durable
than the synagogue and cemeteries knocked
down after the war by the Soviets, their stones
used in new foundations.
Though most Jewish buildings were destroyed,
local historian Mikola Dzei led us to
them as if their ghosts still stood. He and museum
director Alexander Ostapuk spent hours
with Wasserman and Ziegelman, poring over
documents and photographs.
They and other citizens added hundreds of
items to a collection already 1,200 strong, consisting
mostly of family photos. Now, says
Wasserman, "We have photographs showing
Jews and Poles and Ukrainians interacting, working
together: the fire department with a few Jewish
members; a birthday party with a few Jewish
and Polish and Ukrainian kids. It shows a whole
side of life that wasn't suggested by the material
we had."
Some of the photographs will debut Nov. 7
at the annual dinner of the Living Memorial to
the HolocaustMuseum of Jewish Herltage.
Other items collected include survey maps
from the 1930s, with names of inhabitants; a fragment
Some of the photographs will debut Nov.
7 at the annual dinner of the Living Memorial to
the Holocaust-Museum of Jewish Heritage.
Other items collected include survey maps
from the 1930s, with names of inhabitants; a fragment
of a silver menorah discovered by workers
digging a new foundation; a glass bottle from the
kosher distillery; receipts from Jewish businesses,
with signatures.
And a gift from Olga Satyuk.
Olga had invited Wasserman and Dzei into