May we, the officers and members of the Arrangement Committee extend our heartiest welcome to our members, their families, friends and guests, gathered here tonight. We are honored to have you participate in this, our 55th Anniversary Celebration.

We did everything possible to make this affair an outstanding one. As payment for our work, we hope, you all had a good time.

We wish to thank all those who helped us in our efforts, especially to our beloved President Hyman Gevirtz and our First Lady Sarah, who at this time are celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary, and we hope that they will be with us for many, many more years, for their fullest cooperation in behalf of this undertaking. We wish to thank our members who did everything possible to solicit ads for this Journal. Our special thanks to Brother Michael Radish who excelled in this department.

To our advertisers, who so generously extended us a helping hand, we owe a profound debt of gratitude. They made it possible for us to go through with our task.
We want to wish you all the very best of everything and may we all be together to celebrate our 60th Anniversary.

THE ARRANGEMENT COMMITTEE

While celebrating this 55th birthday of our Society, it would be befitting that we pronounce the traditional Jewish blessing of Shehekheyonu - that we have lived to see this day.

There are two reasons for it: Shehekheyonu that we have lived to see our
Society reaching this mature age; and Shehekheyonu that we are alive in general.

We in America. and a small number of our landsleit in Israel and other democratic countries. are the only survivors of our communities in the old country. The rest of our brethren and sisters, who did not have the good fortune to emigrate with us at the time when we have left our birthplace, have perished, in the most crucial manner, by the hands of the inhuman German hordes.

Today, when we celebrate the 55th birthday of our Society, we honor the memory of the Jewish martyrs of the cities, towns and villages of the old country, including the towns where we came from. With bleeding hearts we

bow our heads in awe for the most cruel fate that has befallen them.

At the same time, we also honor the memory of our brothers and sisters, members of our Society, who have passed away here in America, especially the ones who have departed during the last five years, since we have celebrated our 50th Anniversary. They are:

Alter Witchel, who for 30 years served us faithfully and energetically as the treasurer of our Society;

Benjamin Goodman, who was generous, benevolent, kind and charitable, and served us as our Hospitaler;

Morris Gevirtz, my younger brother, who passed away prematurely, thus rendering our loss even more painful. He was our secretary for many years and served our cause faithfully and unselfishly. He was survived by his wife--

Fanny Gewirtz, whose broken heart could not endure for long the great loss of her husband and she followed him in the grave.

* * *

Fifty-five years in the life of a society in an honorable age and it is befitting that we celebrate it so solemnly and as joyously as we do.

When our Society was founded, our elderly members were still very young
and those of our younger generation were not yet born. Some of us still remember the old country where our cradles stood, and others have never seen it. Traditionally, however, we all are rooted there in brotherly love, as we carry in our hearts the spiritual values of charity and benevolence which we have inherited from our forefathers from over there.

I take this opportunity to express to you all my deep gratitude for the confidence that you have given me, over a period of 33 years, to serve you as the President of our Society. My eloquence is too limited to enable me to express my profound feelings at this auspicious moment for the honor you have bestowed upon me, to direct the activities for the fulfillment of the ideals to which we are dedicated.

During the 55 years of our existence our organization became the focal point of support for the ill and the needy. At first, we have confined our activities to our local needs, such as sick benefits, loan association and similar benevolence. Gradually, however, our organization began assisting larger philanthropic enterprises, local and international.

Immediately after World War I, we have extended aid, both economic and cultural. to our landsleit in the old country. Now, when our homeland of Israel has been restored, I was delegated by you to visit the Promised

Land. There we have planted a forest as a monument to our Society. We have also established there a loan fund to assist our landsleit who settled in Israel to build their permanent and secured homes.

Our activities' have gained recognition among Jewish national organizations, especially among those which are devoted to philanthropy and to the Zionist cause. We have the profound feeling of satisfaction that our activities have been directed constructively, focussed on the proper perspectives.

Yet I can hardly free myself from a feeling of uncertainty that the great. ideal of our endeavor which we have begun these many years ago, may be terminated the moment we, its present bearers, should leave these environs. It is painful to think that, after 55 years of trials and tribulations, all the burdens of our activities still rest, in a great measure, upon the efforts of the aged members, while the youth - the hope of our generation - is passive and indifferent.

I appeal to you, my youthful sisters and brothers - let this day of our celebration become the day of our rededication to the ideals of our Society as envisioned by its founders so many years ago. Let us be rejuvenated by their ecstasy, enthusiasm and inspiration. This will insure our existence for generations to come. Such a step will fill you with pride of future achievement even as we are proud of our 55 years of the history of our Society today.

With your indulgence, I should, at this festive moment, like to publicly express my appreciation to my beloved wife and loyal companion, Sara, for having enabled me, by her cooperation and personal inspiration, to devote so much of my life to the needs of my fellow men, throughout the 50 years of our marital bliss. For this is also our Golden Wedding Anniversary. Without her encouragement it would be impossible to stand 33 years at the helm of our organization.

I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Arrangement Committee for its harmonious function that brought about the success of this celebration. Also sincere thanks to our Officers, the Vice President, Secretaries, Hospitaler, Treasurer, Chairmen of our various committees and all others with whom I had the pleasure to share our activities and by whose endeavors our organization has accomplished so much.

Your President,

HYMAN GEWIRTZ

Once again it is my great pleasure aud honor to greet you, my brothers, sisters, their friends and children, upon this - our fifty-fifth anniversary.

It is a wonderful occasion for all of us to be together again celebrating another milestone in the long road to success and achievement, toward which we have been and are still striving.

For me, however. this brings an even greater joy than normally. For me, it means that I have successfully completed twenty-five years of service to our organization, Wisoko-Litovsker B. V. Verein. For me, it is the quartercentury mark, the Silver Anniversary of my installation into the office of Vice-President. I only hope and pray that I shall be able to continue to be of service to our beloved Verein and to you, my brothers and sisters, for many more years to come.

Success and achievement are not won easily but only with hard work and with the cooperation and assistance of all our members. No administration can complete what it sets out to accomplish, except that the brothers and sisters help. And so it has been with us. Each year of the fifty-five, this anniversary we are celebrating tonight, has seen our organization grow in size and stature, not only among us here but to our brethren everywhere; thanks to the concentrated efforts of our officers and membership whose first thought always has been the good and welfare of Wisoko Litovsker B. V. Verein.

So, my brothers and sisters, on this occasion, I am doubly grateful to the Almighty for letting us celebrate together this anniversary of our beloved society and this Silver Anniversary for me. I hope that we shall continue to meet only at simchas and that you will permit me to greet you on each occasion as I am honored to do so tonight.

SAM BLUM, Vice President

Dear Sisters, Brothers and Friends:

Five years have passed since we have gathered to celebrate our Golden Anniversary and ever since that memorable time I had the honor and pleasure to serve you as the Financial Secretary to the best of my abilities. Please accept my sincerest and warmest greetings on this special day, when we have added five more years to the history of our organization, years that have proved to be fruitful and beneficient, in line with the ideals which our organization had pursuit ever since its foundation.

On the occasion of this our celebration, I do not wish to elaborate on things in general, but I do feel that it is my duty to give you a short resume of what our organization has accomplished during the fifty-five years of its existence.

Fifty-five years ago, a small group of idealistic and socially conscious people, plagued by homelessness, poverty, nostalgia for one's kin, have gathered in the home of Sam Blonder, on the East Side of New York and have founded the Wisoko-Litowsker Bruderlicher Untershtitzung Verein (Wisoko-Litowsk Brotherly Benevolent Society).

Twenty-two was the number of people who founded the society. Its idea had such a salutary effect upon our forlorn and lonesome landsleit that it spread lightning-like- so that our Wisoker and Wolchiner friends expressed their desire to "belong" in their mass, strengthening the original rank.

The society has ever since been the focal point of support for the unfortunates among us who have been ill or needy. We can now proudly say that we have built a strong building on the foundation of brotherly love and benevolence. We have ever since that time extended our activities over and beyond our own narrow circle and our Society began assisting various philanthropic, national and international enterprises on as large a scope as we could afford.

It was after the First World War when we have extended our helping hand to our deprived brethren overseas, in Europe. And now, when we have finally lived to see the establishment of the State of Israel. we are happy to make our contribution towards the achievement of our national aim to upbuild our Promised Land as an independent home of our Jewish people.

Today, our Society numbers 196 members. We have, throughout the years, paid out $27,580.02 in charities, and $40,341.78 in benefits, aid and assistance to our members. We have contributed liberally towards the Federation of Jewish Charities, United Jewish Appeal, Histadrut and Jewish National Fund. We have established a Free Loan Fund in Israel and we have planted there a forest, on the grounds of the Jewish National Fund. bearing the name of our organization. These latter activities were accomplished by our President, Hyman Gevirtz and his wife Sarah, whom we have delegated to visit Israel on our behalf, in the year 1954.

We have also built two houses in the Land of Israel, and we have invested in Israel Bonds. This is aside the many food packages which we keep on sending, with your help, to our remaining kinfolk in all parts of the world.

We did our duty as loyal American citizens during the two World Wars and the Korean War. We have invested in excess of $11.000.00 in U. S. War Bonds. Our children served in every branch of the U. S. armed forces; our members have given their blood to save our wounded soldiers.

All this was accomplished only with your help, dear Brothers and Sisters. All of you, whether active or inactive members, have worked in unison to achieve our aims. We have all worked towards one ideal - the good and welfare of our organization.

Fifty-five years is a long period of time. It would be futile to elaborate on the many activities of our organization during these many years. I must, however. mention few sad losses which we have suffered during the past five years. These were the passing of Brothers Alter Witchel, Benjamin Goodman, and Morris Gevirtz. They have served us faithfully and idealistically as Treasurer. Hospitaler and Recording Secretary, respectively. Their loss was a great sorrow to all of us. Their spirits will always remain with us.

I wish to take this opportunity to extend the greetings of our members to our friend Mike Radish and wish him a speedy and complete recovery of

GREETINGS FROM TREASURER ABE STAVISKY

I am grateful for having the opportunity to greet all our members and friends on this joyous occasion. our 55th Anniversary.

It is an honor and a privilege for me to serve our Society as a Treasurer, and it thrills me as an insider to know of the fine work done by our organization.

My wife joins me in wishing our President Hyman and Sister Sarah Gevirtz, who are at this time celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary, the best of everything, and may we all be together to celebrate their Diamond Anniversary.

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his health. We are grateful to him for his contribution to make this our Souvenir Journal a great success.

I also wish to extend our special greetings to our President, Hyman Gevirtz, and to his wife, our first lady Sarah. They are now celebrating the Golden Anniversary of their marital bliss. and we extend them our blessings that twenty-five years hence we should all join them in celebration of their Diamond Anniversary, in good health and mazel tov.

I join all our members in gratitude to the Arrangement Committee tor their helping hand in arranging this our celebration.

And last but not least, I should at this moment, with your indulgence express my appreciation to my beloved wife and companion, Bessie, for cooperating with me in the activities for the benefit of our organization.

I hope that this our celebration will inspire us to continue to pursue the ideals of the founders of our Society and rejuvenate us towards future activities even more beneficient than in the past.

IRVING BLOOM, Fin. Secretary

THE SOCIETY. . . WHAT IT MEANS TO ME!

"Why do you have to belong to a society, it's not for you"? This is a remark made to me in one form or another for some time. The answer is not as simple as the question. that it. it cannot be answered in one sentence. but there is an answer.

It is true that 55 years ago when this and perhaps many other societies were formed. it was for the purpose of banding together a group of men from a home town of Europe. The purpose of this association was basically to help each other out in a new land with their many new problems. This also enabled them to get together for social functions and to talk over about old times.

Eventually new features were incorporated, such as burial plots and helping those who are in their hour of need. as well as sick benefits. etc. Although these are of value. they are generally not appreciated except when an emergency arises.

Of late this society has taken on the burdens of charitable enterprises, which vary in many ways. No charitable organization is ever refused a donation by this society. however small. Many organizations receive sums from us which would not be possible for us as individuals to contribute. The United Jewish Appeal. Federation of Jewish Charities and Bialystoker Home are just a few examples.

GREETINGS FROM OUR RECORDING SECRETARY IRVING GEVIRTZ
Heartiest Greetings and Best Wishes to all our members and their families on our 55th Anniversary Jubilee.

As your new Recording Secretary, I am proud to be on a team of outstanding Officers, and hope to bee able to follow in the footsteps of my predecessors.

To my brother and sister-in-law - the President and the First Lady of our worthy organization, Sarah and Hymie Gevirtz, who, at this time are celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary, I extend my best wishes and hope that they will be with us for many more years.

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However, the society also realizes that "charity begins at home" and as a result many a member is aided by a sum of money when the need arises. Not as a loan, but gratis, so that it may be a prop to get him on his feet again.

My own personal satisfaction comes from visiting a member who is ill. The gratitude expressed by that member as well as by the members of his household is something which is heartwarming. This spurs me on so that regardless of my many other commitments, I take a greater interest in helping others. Over a period of time I have found that helping others does not necessarily require financial aid but just time - and not too much of that either.

We have at present a Loan Fund in our society where a member may borrow up to $100.00, with no interest charged. There is a possibility that this amount may be increased in the not too distant future. One of our achievements recently was to help finance some of our Landsleit in Israel with funds to maintain a similar loan fund in that country.

Our organization at present is abundant with young members who could participate in many satisfying ventures for our society. The potentialities of our group is endless, but depends on everyone's cooperation. At tendance at just a few consecutive meetings can show you that there are many ways you can get some self-satisfaction.

LEONARD ROSS