Dear friends of Shumsk:

In a visit to Shumsk, the birthplace of our parents and families, which a
number of the signers of this letter made in 2003, we tried to understand
and to learn about the town which was the cradle of our families.

Many years have passed since our families' time in Shumsk, and yet it
seemed that something from those days still exists in the air of Shumsk.

We walked in a daze in the Jewish cemetery, which is unkempt and serves as
pasture land for the cattle of the neighbors. We looked at the tombstones
inscribed in Hebrew.

In the forest near the town we stood speechless before the site of the
massacre and the mass grave. In August 1942, 2,432 members of our families,
Jewish residents of Shumsk, were murdered there.

Our recurrent thought was what could we, their families, do to honor their
memory?  We thought that the least we could do would be to enclose and
maintain the Jewish cemetery and to repair the memorial monument at the
site of the massacre.

Only one Jew now lives in Shumsk, Mr. Albert Shafir. We asked him to try to
obtain the written agreement of the Municipality of Shumsk and a detailed
map of the Jewish cemetery so that we would be able to fence in and
maintain the cemetery, with the help of funds which we would solicit from
Shumskers and their descendents in Israel, the United States and Canada.

Mr. Shafir succeeded in receiving the written permission and the map
(copies of which are enclosed with this letter). (Translator's note: These
documents are in Hebrew and were enclosed with the original Hebrew version
of this letter, sent to Shumskers in Israel.)

In addition, Mr. Shafir received a bid from a company in Ternopil for the
construction of the fence and the repair of the monument. Examples of the
proposed fence are also enclosed. (Translator's note: The fence proposal
also is in Hebrew and was enclosed with the letter sent to Shumskers in
Israel.)

The estimated cost of construction of the fence, repair of the monument and
upkeep of the cemetery for seven years is 65,000 shekel. (Translator's
note: $1.00 US = 4.45 shekel. The rate fluctuates but has not wandered too
far in the last year, so it's around $14,600 US.)

Assuming that each Shumsker will contribute an amount he is able to, we
should succeed in obtaining the amount necessary to honor the memories of
our family members who are no longer with us.

The nonprofit Organization of Kremenetsers in Israel, of which our Shumsk
group is a part, agreed to our request to open a special bank account to
which contributions can be sent.

The bank is BANK HAPOALIM,
             1 Hovavei Tzion St.
             Petach Tikva, Israel 49362

The name of the account is:
The Organization of Kremenetsers in Israel (Shumsk)
Branch No. 616
Account No. 686090
Bank's 'Swift Code' - poalilita (P, O, A, L, I, L, I, T, A)

The Bank accepts ANY currency checks -- personal or bank note sent by mail
or via bank-to-bank money transfer. (It takes a couple of days to verify
the transfer -- at the most.)
Both the person and the "target" bank account are duly notified. The sums
are deposited and kept in their original currency (US $, Canadian $, Euro,
etc.)

The signatories to the account are:  Benyamin Hofshi-Freider
and Shimshon Bahat, a signatory of the Organization of Kremenetsers in Israel.

A decision about the exact type of fence and the engagement of a contractor
to carry out the work will be made by the five signatories of this
letter.

In the event that we do not succeed in raising enough funds to carry out
this project, or if, for any reason, the project cannot be carried out, we
will undertake to return the funds to those who have contributed. To this
end we request that you keep your receipt. In the event that contributions
must be returned, the receipts will serve as  documentation of your
contribution.

We thank you in advance for your support.

The organizers,

Shimshon Bahat
Benyamin Hofshi
Gita Inbar
Rachel Karni
Yehuda Lerner