{97} The Third Epoch of Brest presents itself as follows:

Its economic situation is almost without change. As in the previous epochs, Brest is engaged in transport trade. Trade grew, but, meanwhile money lost value. Goods are brought to Brest from the region of Poland around Łuków, from Kovel in Volhynia, and from areas of Lithuania to Pinsk and Białystok. There were [tense stet] a small number of more or less large warehouses and shops here. Turnover of goods was high.

Most of them [the retailers] are small or medium-sized shops or little stalls. Taking advantage of rapid delivery from major centers and of the fast [local] transportation, they do not need large warehouses.

In a number of little shops all the goods for sale have a value that can be estimated be be below several tens of rubles. Often that is the only income for large families.  /1/ Little shops were very competitive due to their minimum [overhead] costs. These put pressure on other shops to look for ways to lower the prices on their goods. As a result, they buy here at auctions, the so-called ramki, reshetki [rus: рамки, рештки]. In their turn, they compete and make others also seek used goods.

There are no bigwigs, tycoons, rich men, manufacturers or other prospering industrialists and entrepreneurs here. All is small. Common urban trade, industry, and other businesses, banks, money-changing stalls, and other lenders; hotels, restaurants; pubs and beer shops, etc. – all of them are tiny.

Here it is common when each seller and dealer pulls and tears at [each potential] buyer –who may or may not actually buy something– and both arouse sympathy. A desperate struggle for survival.

Among factory-made products there is an outstanding product gilzy that is manufactured specifically in Brest. They are known nearly throughout all Russia. Until recent strikes here, working hands [low-skilled workers] were quite сheap {98} –again due to widespread poverty.

The strikes took place not only in Brest, so gilzy from Brest could still have opportunity to compete. Anyway, gilzy from Brest have a wide reputation for being good. A gilzy factory requires little know-how and less maturity beyond usual trading skills of merchants. That suits most Brest merchants, who become merchants overnight.

There are also in Brest tanneries, sawmills, soap factories, breweries, printing houses, mills, confectionaries, plants producing brushes, bluing [for washing], alkali [soda], tobacco, sausage, albumins, cigarette tubing machines, shoe polish, book binding, sausages, confectionary, kerchiefs, metal products and some other small crafts for a small export, the rest for local consumption.

The central train station of Brest, being connected by a network of railways with Moscow, Warsaw, Yuriev, Grajewo, Polesie and by Kholm, makes the city a hub. That's why there are quite a lot of hotels and coachmen here.

Brest benefits quite a lot from the fortress, which gets through the city all they need and gets rid of what they don't need. Brest troops in the fortress, camps and in the city, amounting often to a large number, are yielding various revenues to the city.

However, all of them are small. In general, one earns little here. Often the whole family can afford to spend [only] about two or three rubles a week. Not surprisingly, [the people of] Brest became accustomed to most meager, mean, and miserable lives with respect to food, clothing and furniture.

(However, the people of Brest do not spare charity, giving alms as much as they can, to the last penny. The poor get no rest [never live in peace], yet the people are not stingy, give them incessantly).

Until recently, not only cheap hands, factory workers and others, but also merchants of relatively higher rank did not know [enjoy] lunch at family table. Every family member used to take lunch separately, without cooking, in various places, randomly purchased.

A few used to dress well and neatly, live in a well-furnished apartment, and one would conclude that these people are completely devoid of aesthetic feelings or they fear to display them, or they are numbed by a heavy burden of some sorrow, anarchism, or enslavement; or they are, in the long run, [followers of] Diogenes, who do not care about anything but peace, saving souls, and serving God.

Recently, the situation has somewhat changed. They want to live and are starting to live.

Because of the cheap labor-hands [i.e. many people willing to work for low wages], earlier, young men before marriage were not doing anything – they were engaged in Talmud study, or idled away, strolling and entertaining.

The question of getting food {99} would arise after marriage.

Only some brave ones went to Warsaw, Lodz, Odessa, Moscow and other centers.

They were also indifferent to education. Such a miserable life requires not much and has few complaints. Everyone thought that he would be a shop assistant or tavern keeper (if there were such shops and taverns). It even seemed that he lived in a bigger way than others did, a well-to-do person, being unusual, lofty, extraordinary, from the circles of power, in one word, different from us.

With such life in Brest there were numerous days of fasting. On Mondays and Thursdays, on the eve of the new month, ten days of remission of sins along with many other days – the absolute fast. Others do not eat meat on the week-days, and so on and so forth. What on earth should they eat, in fact? With a filling lunch or without it, without bread and sour milk, and so on. If you do not eat, at least, the upper world will be cleaner and a penny will remain in the pocket. And what is human life? And is this eternal struggle with the stomach worthwhile? Or feeding it only once a month? Because you get up in the morning, feed it, in the evening feed it and there is no time to think about yourself.

So life went on, especially among the Jews, about whom we just spoke, as they made up the majority of the city inhabitants. The smaller part of the population: military, administration and other Christians, apart from a small exception live under different conditions and in a different world.

All the miseries that had been enslaving and oppressing the Jews were increased by the military conscription system of Nicholas I. Children at the age of 7-8 years were seized for military service, which was exceedingly long –lasting 25 years. It was strenuous service, almost like hard labor of a convict.

They were placed among people who tore hair from Jews' heads like from horse's tail. They were often forced to convert to Orthodox Christianity. All this has shattered the life of the Jews in Brest.

But this poor, fasting Jew, living not for himself in Brest, does not spare giving alms to others. One could say: he shared with the poor. Anyway, nobody was hungry. There are many people in Brest, who help the poor all their life. That is their mission: first to think about the cup of the poor and only then about their own. They were not concerned about whether their charity is useful, whether it increases the number of the poor, laziness, and idleness, that destroy the feeling of being an owner. Regardless of the people, who were struggling, rebelling, they don't avoid from charity. They did not know any theory of socialism; they were only convinced that God entrusted to them part of the poor ones to keep and they must give, sympathize with the poor. These people would be well-off, even in a way wealthy, {100} if they did not give so much to the poor.

Who did not know in Brest Sholim Reb Menashe? Who does not know Reb Shlomo the Schochet and his wife Kreindla (the parents of the author of this book), so remarkable in this respect?

To be fair, Brest honors and respects such people –who are numerous, and there were many more.

Brest was able to carry shoulder-high [pay tribute to] the late Leiba Zonenberg (author’s deceased brother), for his boundless mercy to the poor.

Along with private alms distribution, there are a lot of public charities in Brest, like in each city, and perhaps even more. But they are bureaucratic, often controlled by despotism. They lack empathy.

However, in the present situation they bring quite a lot of relief as well, and do not hamper [hinder].

Recently, there have been also workers' strikes. Emigration is increasing, reaching large scales. However, this is a temporary phenomenon, transient.

Overall, well-being is rather improving, life is becoming better, more luxurious and freer.

Living together with Christians has not deteriorated the situation, but made it even better. Christian people are so accustomed to the Jews, that some of them have even learned to speak the Jewish language.

The number of telephones in Brest, which at a subscription rate of 60 rubles per year reached one hundred (including the fortress).

This shows the financial situation of Brest and the state of trade. Only a portion of the telephones is in the possession of merchants, offices, doctors and others.

By the way, this is only the first year of the phone network and results are not known yet, because someone have acquired the telephone without knowing how much they need it, and others perhaps for prestige.

Box fees [tax collected within the community] totaled about 30,000 rubles a year. Slaughter of cattle totaled 8-10 thousand.

The population now is about 46,000 people.

As to mentality, Brest got an impetus from: the introduction of the new system of military conscription, the rise in the educational level in other neighboring cities and the improvement of links to centers of education.

The emergence of Zionism in the newspapers and its rise in the Jewish world in general had no lesser impact. Before the introduction of the new system of military conscription all the people in Brest were in darkness and ignorance, and just a few ventured {101} to reading Polish and German or even Russian literature, certainly, in intelligent and rich homes.

All the rest of the people were hiding their children from conscription and recruiting officers, who were taking away draftees. As soon as they reached 13-15 years, they were married.   /1/ In order to avoid conscription So there was no one no one left to teach, and the majority could get only cheder education before their marriage and sometimes for a short time afterwards. Under the new system, when children were not afraid of appearing in the street, and marriage age has shifted at least to 21 years, and even beyond, the youth had to make use of time. They were reading. They were getting to know about other worlds, about literature, about a different life. They faced a new life, prettier and brighter. They were travelling, seeing and imitating, acquiring and posing.

Educational institutions have appeared and the indifferent and ignorant Jew stands up upright, raises up his eyes and wants to live with the world at large. Then Christians were welcoming such Jews and the government supported them. Earlier a Jew did not think about any equality. What was given to him was bliss and he thanked his benefactors for their favor. Still it did not occur to him that he was the same as others, a person who could enjoy [equal] rights not out of mercy, just like others. Still he keeps in mind that there is hunger, and that he lives not by law, but by someone's grace. He's by owner's side. Even if that is a good gentlemen.

The competition in trade also increased. The Jews were bereft of some sources of bread-winning. It made them think about goals in life.

They began studying. Some were acquiring all their knowledge mostly from the ancient Jewish sources; others rushed directly to the prevailing source, the Russian language. They studied it.

And Brest started getting its modern intellectual Jews and those who claimed to be intellectuals. Doctors of medicine appear, who were born in Brest, attorneys, surveyors, military doctors and so on and so forth, who at first kept up their noses high, with an autocratic behavior towards the people, and were very far from Jewry until the anti-Semitism and Zionism came into existence and until the curse word Vykhryst [Non-Christian - my text] appeared in the spoken language. They became aware of the existence of Montefiores, Hirschs, Rothschilds and first and foremost Dr. Herzl – Jewish swallows [dove is the one that came back to Noah's ark] who had returned with new songs. They appear everywhere and mixed up in Zionism, progressivism, territorialism, socialism, and so on. Only if not to miss a chance, just to fill the void of public life, when one is sick and tired of ladies and rashim [prominent Talmudic scholars]. However, there are idealists, who are not poseurs, not amusing themselves, but who are ready to sacrifice themselves for an ideal of their life.
As adherents of ideas (not the poor, of course) and as public figures

(1) In order to avoid conscription.

{102} are now considered by the way Dr. Steinberg, Dr. Shereshevsky, Dr. Wolfson, Dr. Khvat, banker Gorodishch, and many others. Yet they are not monopolists.

Compared with the past, there are now enough schools in Brest: Gymnasium (one for boys and one for girls), a commercial college, a six-class municipal school and a lot of other primary, boarding, exemplary schools and cheders, and also a Talmud Torah.

After religious feelings weakened, now they treat tolerantly the mandatory classes on the Sabbath day in secondary schools. Others are making compromises with God, begging him: "You forgive my son's and daughter's studies on Saturday, you see for yourself that it is very necessary, but be sure, instead they will not smoke, and will not let others smoke, and put on tefillin every day and Moy-tze (Motzi) and all the rest.

Of course, there are quite a number of ardent and zealous fanatics. And as recently as this year mohels (circumcisers/ or persons who perform circumcision in Jewish babies) did not want to perform this rite for one who was earlier considered to be more spiritual, but subsequently imitating others, he sent his son to the Commercial College.

But those instances are not frequent and they are of no significance any longer, moreover of no influence.

However, you must admit: So far, Brest has inferior educational opportunities compared to other cities in many respects. Although education lags, self-awareness, interest in the wide world, increased.

The spoken language of the Jews is jargon [Yiddish], defended even by intellectuals – recently, as their own. There are also some youth, who put on airs, yearning to some Europe, which they don’t know, but heard something of and little understand; they flaunt in Russian along Nevsky (the best street of Brest), even without having mastered the language well enough. They have just hatched out of the egg.

Brest jargon has a special tinge, something neither Lithuanian "o, ei", nor Polish "ai", nor Volhynian "oa". That is a tinge unique to Brest, as an average of all, being among all these neighbors.

They rarely speak Polish and they use it in writing even more seldom. Only a few phrases remained from the Polish such as Proszę Pana [please] and Psiakrew! ['dog's blood' --> son of a bitch]. By the way, they allowed teaching the Polish language in the educational institutions of Brest. However, it is not compulsory. In the book shops Polish books began to appear, though still very few. There are several shops of Jewish books and several of Russian books. In the latter there are books in other languages. Shops do not complain. Their sales prove that they make a living.

{103} However, Brest has not yet produced any world-prominent people. Dolce far niente! [an Italian phrase for pleasantly doing nothing]. The names of Brest writers are not heard in literary circles.

Talmudist rabbis ???somehow??? worked in the field of religious books. Especially known in the field [of Talmudic study] is the late Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, famous for his writings בית הלוי  [Beit HaLevi]

In other fields, Leib Feinstein is known in Brest thanks to his עיר תהילה [Ir Tehila] (History of the Jewish Community of Brest, written in Old Hebrew. He describes how Brest obtained some privileges granted by kings, etc.)

The writing is compiled in the form of a chronicle and a collection of documents, without a critical annotations and in an incoherent way, even without checking the facts. However, it is of literary value that is a bit higher than his other works – which have nearly no value.

The recently deceased idealist and territorialist, Hazan, was a good writer and speaker (in the local dialect [of Yiddish]). He died two years ago. He was a delegate from Brest at the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basel.

Dr. Steinberg wrote: Sanitary Service, Alcoholic, a drama in dialect (purely in the spirit of the time), a report from the elections to the Second Duma in the Grodno province.

• Vatshtein wrote Russian Grammar.

• Braverman wrote המבאר [The Interpreter], a critical commentary on the Pentateuch, written tastefully and had at one time due importance.

• Taksin compiled ידיעות הטבע שבתלמוד [Natural Sciences in the Talmud].

• Kharkevich (about the monument, erected in honor of Suvorov in the Battle of Brest). [Actually at the village of Terespol, outside Brest.]

• A small work of dentist Iosem ויהי בישורן מלך, מסע לא"י  [There was a King in Israel, A Voyage to the Land of Israel ] and other works.

• Mikhoel Rabinovich הצופה לבית יעקב [The Watcher Over the People of Israel].

There were some prayerful articles in the newspapers of less known: Markon, Goldberg, Naimark, Berenblum and others, following specific incidents.

Yet it seems, perhaps, there are still some personalities even less worth mentioning.

An author was highly esteemed. People view him with admiration, as someone exceptional. Brest printing houses printed nearly nothing of literature, but only advertisements, local regulations, and newspaper bulletins.

There is publisher Dzentsl who has published a lot of books. Alas, his publications were mostly Jewish chete minei [probably: religious readings for home use]. The best edition of his is the translation of חתן המלך [Khatan HaMelekh,The King's Son-in-Law].

Last year, Mr. Rakov started to publish in Brest (Rakov’s printing house) Brest-Litovsk Courier (daily), a small tabloid [small-format] newspaper. However, it stopped appearing. The reason for termination: Jewish jargon prevails and the newspapers {104} in the jargon [Yiddish] are much more read by the Brest Jews.

Among Christians, no one has distinguished himself either.

It is not known what participation was of Brest nobility at the Congress of the nobles of the Grodno province in 1857 at which readiness to liberate the peasants was declared.

As nice buildings in Brest can be considered: the central train station, gymnasium (secondary school), church near the school, munitions stores (extremely long [???warehouse buildings???], built by Kronenberg) in Gorodok, the Synagogue and, a few others.

The city garden is nice too.

I would like to add that, being in Brest in the 1870s, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin was arrested and detained in Brest-Litovsk prison due to some misunderstanding. He was shortly released and next he left for Palestine.

And yet one more item: in 1903, a district court was founded in Brest.

Here I finish both the story about the Third Epoch and the History of the Town of Brest-Litovsk.