The first thing you notice when you enter Katowice is the constant, phrenetic, and noisy movement that never seems to stop.

A medley of languages can be heard in the streets and shops. People from all parts of Poland and from abroad meet here daily. Among them one can recognize merchants, manufacturers, factory managers, commissioners, collectors, all kinds of tourists, and plain travelers. Among the languages one hears everywhere are Polish, German, English, as well as juicy Yiddish.

Upper Silesia is the commercial “land of wealth” of Poland. Here, in this wonderful corner which abounds in minerals and natural charm, one does not hear the negative reverberations of the economic crisis which has Poland in its grip. Here one does not feel the same merciless pressure for money; one does not know the mysterious “bridge of paper”, the bills, that is making commerce in Poland insecure, indecisive, and very dangerous. Here different commercial traditions prevail; industry and various enterprises have a different character. They are more solid, more secure.

There is something in the life of this place that is a constant reminder of the generosity with which this area has been blessed, on a scale almost without equal anywhere else on earth. Upper Silesia probably has one of the greatest concentrations of mineral wealth in the world. In addition to coal, other treasures may be found such as lead, zinc, and iron ore. All of it is present in huge quantities, is of a very high grade, and its yield is without equal.

About 75% of Poland's coal, 66% of its iron industry, and all of its zinc is located in this area. The area awarded to Poland in the division included 50 coal mines that employed about 130,000 workers. Today, these mines continue to be very active and employ over a quarter of a million people. These mines play a crucial role in the economy of the country.

Katowice is the capital of this wonderful and interesting area, the wealthiest in Poland. Broken and downtrodden people come from other parts of Poland to seek happiness and encouragement here. The city became a “life vest” and a last refuge for those who sank in the abyss of the terrible economic crisis which gripped the country because of the helplessness of its economic leaders.

Katowice has a permanent population of 125,000 and a similar number of guests who arrive daily. In reality, therefore, Katowice has a population of about a quarter of a million people. This city has the largest number of strangers of any city in Poland and this fact left its mark on its character.

It is difficult to find an empty space in one of the many large and lovely coffee houses and restaurants that dot the city. Wine houses, places of entertainment and the night life were much more successful here that in any other city in Poland. Perhaps that is the only justification for the imaginative nickname for the city, “Polish Paris”.

The district (wojewodstwo) of Upper Silesia is one of the smaller districts in Poland with a population of 1,130,000. It is, for example, smaller than the district of Lodz (population of 2,252,769), the district of Kielce, or of Lublin. But, thanks to the industry and manufacturing which continue to grow and develop, the economic status of the population is much better than in other districts. The achievements are different here; the demands and expectations from life are resemble those of cultured Germany. One does not see the miserly and stingy mentality that are common elsewhere in Poland. Workers' wages are almost double those in other places. Thus, their standard of living is higher and, truth be told, the standard of living is suitable to their needs as human beings. The worker, especially the urban worker and middle class dresses well, has decent housing, and “everything that is human is not a stranger to him”. He is able to and is allowed to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

This is the reason for the great demand for various products and commodities in Upper Silesia. The respect for the working and the middle class has a positive influence on commerce which is very successful here. The result is improved commerce and livelihood not only for the Jews of Zaglembie and its cities; its influence can be felt far away from its borders.

(Israel Cohen, “Zaglembie as Seen by Visitors” in “Book of Sosnowiec” pp. 197-198).

Miarki Square, at the beginning of the [20th] century

[Page 70]

Everything is a confused mixture. A mixture of time, of places, of images, of memories, of experiences and of events. A sudden and unexpected burst of flashes brings up images and events to the inner vision and consciousness that took place more or less 50 years ago. The first memory of Katowice: we arrive by train from Drohobycz. The time is the winter of 1930. Father closed his store in Boryslaw, the town of my birth, and decided to try his luck in Katowice where my maternal grandparents and my maternal uncle and his family then lived. The city attracted Jews from the small hamlets (shtetlach) of Galicia. It appears that the economic and industrial development of Upper Silesia brought with it opportunities to provide for ones family.

The last memory of Katowice: vacation days of the summer of 1939. I am sent to my mother's family for holidays in the small town of Blazow near Rzeszow. Afterwards I went to Brzuzow to stay with my aunt, my father's sister, whose small children were my age. I was separated from my mother and my sister whom I would never see again.

The Ones I Loved

There were several people during my childhood that I loved. Most of all I loved uncle Reuven, my mother's younger brother, who was then already married and the father of three girls. His family lived in Belzow and from time to time he would come to Katowice to find employment as a merchant and peddler and would wonder together with my father through the small towns in the vicinity of Katowice, offering their wares to the peasants and the worker's families. Uncle Reuven used to take me to unusually interesting places and events, such as the horse races at the hippodrome, soccer games (how proud we were of the Krakow “Maccabi” team which won one of the first places in the National Polish League!), to swim in the Bogla, etc.

It is clear that I was very interested in sports. I attended a sport club for young people on a regular basis. Once a week we practiced various forms of athletics. In winter we used to ice skate and if we had enough money to cover the entrance fee, we used to go ice skating to an ice skating arena and watch the professional skaters. During the snow season we used to pull a “park” sled and slide in a special path. During the summer the same park transformed itself and offered us open spaces in which we to play soccer and volley ball. As a rule we used to love to hike in Kosciuszko Park, to gather its wild berries in the summer, to build snowmen in it in winter, and to play in its playgrounds. Often on Sabbath morning, before the beginning of services in the Synagogue, my father would take a stroll with a friend – usually one of the Pinczewski brothers – and walk to the park. The adults would talk among themselves and I used to struggle between their legs clutching father's talit bag in my hand.

My greatest love was reserved for my teacher, Apterowna. Her many acts of kindness are embedded deep in my heart to this very day. Even from the distance of many years it seems to me that her attitude, her thoughtfulness, and her actions formed the foundation for the love of learning and my occupation as an educator that I pursued during my adult years. What did this teacher Apter do? My sister, Sima, was 15 months older than I. I was very jealous when she entered the first grade in the Jewish elementary school named for Berek Joselewicz. Often, at around noon time, I would walk quite a distance from where we lived to the school, then located in the Zelanza quarter, to “take Sima home”. Truth be told, I wanted very much also to be able to attend the first grade. When I would arrive at the school, the last class was still in progress. I would stand on my tip toes and peek into the classroom through the window. The teacher, Mrs. Apter, would always notice me and soon she invited me into the classroom. No one could have been happier than I, and when I was lucky enough to be able to raise my hand and take an active part in the lesson, which Ms. Apter would sometimes allow with a wink to her students as if to say “see, this urchin is still a kindergartner and already knows the answer” only the sky was a limit to my joy.

That summer Ms. Apter went for a visit to Palestine and the sun of Eretz Israel tanned her skin, which was in any case dark, and she looked more beautiful than ever…

A Telephone Conversation with Jabotinsky

One of the things I loved the most during my childhood was the youth movements. While I was still very young, around the age of eight, I was signed up in the Betar. Two events stand out in my memory from involvement in that movement. One was related to preparations for Zeev Jabotinsky's birthday and the second in connection with a trip to summer camp. Jabotisky then resided in Paris and one of the major events in the celebration of his 55^th birthday was to be a telephone greeting to him. The greeting in this international phone call was to be made by one of the younger members with some knowledge of Hebrew. I was picked for the task. I was of course terribly excited and I turned the nights into days in practicing the few Hebrew sentences that I would say. In the presence of dozens of students and counsellors, we called Paris and all of them were witnesses to my telephone conversation with the prominent leader. He was apparently prepared for this conversation since he allowed me to give my message without interruption after which he offered words of thanks in Hebrew. We were all very happy and I of course was extremely proud. Even my friends and counsellors were overjoyed that I did not become confused from my excitement.

This is what happened regarding the summer camp. Despite the fact that I was very young, one of the leaders of Betar whose name was Majdzowinski and in whose house my aunt Tziporah lived, convinced my parents to allow me to participate in their movement's summer camp. It appears that convincing my parents was a difficult and slow process, since I did not travel to the camp with the others. I arrived several days after it started. The same Majdzowinski took me by train. I was attracted and repelled at the same time. The failure was anticipated. After three days I became very homesick and then spent another three days crying continuously until the same leader who brought me to camp had to take me back home and return this cry baby to his parents…

“The Zionist Youth Movement”

My experience with other summer camps was more successful but these were part of another youth movement, the “Zionist Youth”. How did I get to the Zionist Youth? My brother, Asher, had been a member of this organization since his childhood. In 1937, when he was 16, he took a special counselling course and was appointed a counsellor in the movement but was not given a group. He decided to create himself a group and started …with me. One day he turned to me and said: “Nunek, I need a group since I was appointed a counsellor. Leave the nonsense in Betar and join a serious organization. Of course, I expect you to bring your friends with you”. And that's how it was. We, two brothers did not organize simply as a “provocation”. These were happy days and nights filled with scouting activities, social interaction, and cultural events. All were connected to the Hebrew language, to Eretz Yisrael, and the Jewish community of Katowice.

The main road in Katowice

Once a year we used to arrange a meeting in the same hall in which the famous Katowice Conference of 1884 took place. In the “nest” we used to have discussions, arranged social games, learned Hebrew, and celebrated national and Zionist holidays. I still remember very well the play performed dealing with the settlement of Chanita. We learned the Morse code and used it to communicate and to practice. We played night games and developed our scouting skills. And most important were the summer camps in Rapka, Sakwa, and other places in the mountains. Other memories include green day, a day on which only Hebrew was allowed (anyone who was caught speaking a word of Polish had to put a coin in the Keren Kayemeth box), work day, sport day, stealthy night raids, morning parades, evenings of song around the camp fire ('around the fire'), stealing of flags from competing camps, the special Shabbat atmosphere, hikes in the surrounding countryside, first love, conversations until the wee hours…one long celebration of the joy of youth while absorbing Jewish and Zionist values.

Jewish values – these were first absorbed in the home. Our family was a religious-Zionist. My father used to pray in the “Mizrachi” synagogue. Sometimes he used to go to the “Aguda” synagogue which was nearby, and finally – and I don't know the reason – he ended up praying in the “Saal”, the prayer hall located in the community building.

I was familiar with a fourth synagogue, the largest and most important of all, known as the “Temple” in whose choir I sang and in which prayers and ceremonies were held to mark special events.

A “Cheder” was located in the “Agudah” synagogue. I don't remember know in which phase of my childhood, but it appears to have been at an early stage of my education, that father decided to send me to this “Cheder”. I remember climbing the stairs and joining a group of boys who sat around a large table and learned Mishna or Gemara. I sat there for half a day embarrassed, estranged, withdrawn, and rejected. That is how my Yeshiva education began and ended. As an alternative, I was sent to the community Hebrew school. which we attended on Sundays and I remember fondly my teachers Wiener and Stein Ch., who instilled in me the foundations of the Hebrew language, an approach to the Bible, and my love for Judaism. By the time the new building of the Jewish community of Katowice was dedicated, I had already developed some degree of confidence in my knowledge of Hebrew and at the dedication ceremony I recited Psalm 30, “A Psalm for the Dedication of the House”, by heart. Afterwards I found my name in the dedication report in the community newspaper. I preserved that newspaper with utmost care until…everything was lost.

My Parents' Home

At the center of my childhood stands my parents' home, a small apartment on 7 Kszywa Street, between two garden plazas: Plac Andrzeja and Plac Mijarki. Our family consisted of five people, father (Jehudah Leib), mother (Chana Zelda), my oldest brother (Asher), my sister (Sima), and I who was then called Nunek or Natus. Rays fanned out in several directions from the center: One led up Kosciuszko street to the Park in which I spent the informal part of my life. Another led to the Berek Joselewicz school, first to the Zalenza quarter and then to Bogoczice. Bogoczica was far away and we travelled there by tram or train (one stop) and sometimes, if time allowed or our pockets did not even contain enough for the trip, we walked. The house was poor; from a bourgeois point of view it had a low status, despite the fact that we had a gentile maid and that my father went each year to Krynice or Szczawnice because of his asthma. The gentile maid looked after me and occasionally she would bring me along to her rendezvous with her taxi cab driver friends. And that is how I succeeded to travel by car free of charge.

From time to time a friend of the family's, Helena Trachman, a modern woman and cosmetician who owned a beauty salon in the center of Katowice, used to invite me to ride with her in her private car. Her father, Benzion Trachman (may G-D avenge his death) was a leader of the community of Brzozow and was shot in Dinow when the Germans entered the town.

Another street led to the synagogues, especially on Sabbaths and Holidays. I remember one particular Sabbath when I was on my way to the Temple I encountered and was thrust into a noisy crowd that swayed from side to side near the Town Hall. Every once in a while there appeared a couple, each time in a different window, waving their hands to the cheering crowd. These were the famous singer Jan Kiepura “the boy from Sosnowiec” and the well known actress and singer, Marta Egert, who were celebrating their marriage in Katowice and were driving the crowd crazy.

The fourth way led to the youth movement. There friends awaited, games were played, discussions and debates were conducted, the imagination, the dreams, the desires were allowed to flower. Is it any wonder then that when I moved to Erets Israel in 1942 I joined a youth village as part of a youth movement? For there, in the nest of the “Zionist Youth” in Katowice we made plans to study in “Ben Shemen” . To make aliyah to Israel and to study in that educational institution about which we learned in our many discussions, writings and longings.

Class 5a in the Jewish school, third row from the right – Nathan Greenbaum, writer of this article

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