Kolonja Izaaka

Background

Kolonja Izaaka (Kolonia Isaaka, Isakowa, קולוניה איזאקה), a small Jewish farming village in what is now Belarus, was founded in 1849 through government land grants to 26 poor Jewish families for the purpose of engaging in agricultural activity. [Salit, Salomon, Kolonja Izaaka: Wies Powiatu Sokolskiego (Warsaw, 1934).] The settlement existed continuously until liquidated by the Nazis in November, 1942. [Yad Vashem Records; also Pinkas Hakehillot Polin (Encylopaedia of Jewish Communities, Poland, Vol. VIII, Jerusalem 2005). ] It is a prime example of Jewish agricultural colonies in the Russian Empire.

Location

The community was founded 1.5 km southwest of the town of Odelsk, then part of Grodno Gubernya. After World War I, the community was annexed into the newly reunified Poland. Although Odelsk still exists, the former site of Kolonja Izaaka is now a bo

Life in Kolonja Izaaka

The community at Kolonja Izaaka survived through growing various crops - grains, legumes, orchard fruits - and raising bees for honey. [Sefer Sokolka (Jerusalem, 1968), also Salit, above.] They sold their goods at market in nearby Sokolka. They received direct financial support from the Jewish Colonization Association, founded by Baron Maurice de Hirsch, as well as training support from ORT. [Tapuach, Shimshon, "Agrikultur bay Yidn in Poyln Tzvishn Beyde Velt-Milkhomes," in Studies on Polish Jewry 1919-1939, J. Fishman, ed. (YIVO 1976).]

Salomon Salit's Study of Kolonja Izaaka

In 1934, Salomon Salit, a Jewish PhD student in agrarian economics at the University of Warsaw, published a dissertation about Kolonja Izaaka, which is a detailed record of the community's founding, economics and daily life. This book has been digitized and is available as a free download through the Polish library system.

The Destruction of Kolonja Izaaka

In 1942 the community was deported, along with the Jews of Odelsk, to Treblinka. However, some relatives of those who perished reported that their loved ones died in the death camps at Majdanek or Auschwitz.

External Links

[http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Kolonja/home.html Kolonja Izaaka "Shtetlinks" Website]

[http://pbc.biaman.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=1540&from=pubindex&dirids=23 Downloadable Version of Salomon Salit's Study on Kolonja Izaaka]

[http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol8_00544.html Kolonja Izaaka Entry from Pinkas Polin - the Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland]

[http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/sokolka/Sok553.html Memory of Kolonja Izaaka by Sarah Chinsky, from the Sokolka Yizkor Book]

[http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/sokolka/Sok191.html Memory of Kolonja Izaaka by Menuchah Shmilovitz, from the Sokolka Yizkor Book]

[http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odelsk Polish Wikipedia Entry for Odelsk]

References