Klobuck, Poland

The Book of Klobucko;
In Memory of a Martyred Community
which was Destroyed
(Kłobuck, Poland)
50°54' / 18°56'

Translation of
Sefer Klobutsk; mazkeret kavod le-kehila ha-kedosha she-ushmeda

Published in Tel Aviv, 1960

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Acknowledgments
Project Coordinators

Ruth Wilnai and

This is a translation from: Sefer Klobutsk; mazkeret kavod le-kehila ha-kedosha she-ushmeda
The Book of Klobucko; in memory of a martyred community which was destroyed,
Tel Aviv, former residents of Klobucko in Israel, 1960.

Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Klobuck

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Translated by Gloria Berkenstat Freund

To our fellow Klobuck brethern wherever they may be		7
Preface		9

Jewish Klobuck
Historical Notes and Memories	Borukh Szimkowicz, Moshe Wajnman	11

Synagogues and Houses of Prayer
The Klobuck Synagogue	Adele	22
The Rise of the Synagogue	Gitl Goldberg	25
The Synagogue, the Prayer House of the Klobuck Jews	Borukh Szimkowicz	26
Ghosts in the Mikvah [ritual bath house]	Batya Izraelewicz Zajbel	32
The Klobuck Kehile [organized Jewish community	Borukh Szimkowicz	33

The Melamdim [Teachers] in the Shtetl [Town]
Thus We Studied Torah	Avraham Goldberg	36
My Melamdim [teachers]	Borukh Szimkowicz	42
Memories of My Childhood Years	Fishl Fajga	45
Longing for Education and Knowledge	Sura Brat	48

Jewish Celebrations in Klobuck
Shabbosim [Sabbaths], Holidays and Weddings	Borukh Szimkowicz	50

Stories from Ancient Times
A Blood Libel Against the Jews	Nakhemia Starszynski	60
Cutting Off the Hair on the Head at the Birth of a Child	Borukh Szimkowicz	61

The Economic Life
Sources of Income	Moshe Wajnman	64
Jewish Artisans and Merchants	Borukh Szimkowicz	65
The Market Place in Jewish Hands	Batya Izraelowicz Zajbel	74

The Frist World War and its Effects on Klobucker Jews
Fear of a Pogrom During the Bellis Trail	Moshe Wajnman	75
The Difficult Experiences During the First World War	Moshe Wajnman	76
Memories of the First World War	Borukh Szimkowicz	78
Quarrels Because of a Khazan [cantor] and Shoykhet [ritual slaughterer]	Moshe Wajnman	83

The Jewish Communal Life
The First Charity Institutions and Torah Scholar Groups	Borukh Szimkowicz	84
Jewish Conflict and the First Mizrakhi Organization	Yakov Szperling	91
Histadrut, Gordania and Other Zionist Organizations	Yakov Szperling	94
Zionist Activity After the First World War	Shmuel Goldberg	103
My Zionist Activities	Yehuda Szperling	107
The Betar Organization	Avraham Goldberg	109
The Yesodey haTorah School and the Beis-Yakov School	Arya Guterman	112

Cultural Activities Between the Two World Wars
Dramatic Circle and Library	Sura Brat	114
The Peretz Library and the Communal Education	Moshe Wajnman	122
Cultural Activities in the Years on the Eve of the Second World War	Yaacov Szmulewicz	129

Types and Images
Reb Josef Buchwicz and his Melody	Borukh Szimkowicz	130
My Grandfather - the Pious, Beliving Tailor	Moshe Goldberg	132
The Child Prodigy of Klobuck	Moshe Goldberg	139
Reb Yisroel Elihu Dudek	Moshe Dudek	142
Reb Yisroel Wajchman and His Tragic Death	Avraham Goldberg	145
Reb Moshe Zander, Shoykhet [ritual slaughterer], Prayer Leader and Mohel [ritual circumcisor]	Yitzhak Zander	146
Reb Zelikl	Gitl Goldberg	149
Reb Meir Soyfer [Scribe]	Borukh Szimkowicz	151
Reb Shmuel Frydman	Yakov Frydman	152
Reb. Shlomo Rozental	Batya Izraelewicz Zajbel	155
Reb Borukh Szperling	Yakov Szperling	156
Reb Hershl Szperling	Yakov Szperling	157
Reb Moshe Szperling	Dora Wajs	164
The Last Head of the Yeshiva of Klobuck	Dora Wajs	170
Jewish Doctors	Fishl Fajga	177
Jewish Women Community Workers	Borukh Szimkowicz	178

Klobucker Righteous Gentiles
Dr. Brozowski, a Pole Who Saved Jews During a Pogrom	Borukh Szimkowicz	184
The Libidzer Estate Owner Who Saved Jews from Danger During the First World War	Fishl Fajga	187
The Jewish Mill That Provided Klobuck with Electricity	Chaim Kurland	189

Anti-Semitism in Klobuck
Murderous Attacks on Jews	Fishel Feige	193
Endekes [Polish National Party] Terror and Boycott of the Jews	Yaacov Szperling	196
Memories	Shlomo Birnbaum	198
Fear of a Pogrom in Klobuck	Yakuv Szperling	199
A Summary of Jewish Life in the Period Between the Two World Wars	Moshe Wajnman	203

The German Extermination of Jewish Klobuck
The First Months Under the German Occupation	Berl Yakubowicz	209
In the Chase with Death and the German Torture	Yitzhak Szperling	217
Moniek Merin, the Organizer of the Judenrat [Jewish council] in Klobuck	Yakov Szmulewicz	220
Activities of the Judenrat [Jewish council] and the Difficult Struggle for Existence	Moshe Fajga	223
Pain and Self-Sacrifice of the Pious Jews	Fishl Fajga	226
Forced Labor and Beastly Deeds	Pesa Chorzewski Zlatnik	234
The Last Jewish Kindergarten in Klobuck	Adele Unglik	238
Klobucker Ghetto, “Selections,” Torture Camps	Tsile Witelzon-Zambek	240
Final Liquidation of the Ghetto	Karala Benszkowska	244
The Christian “Help” for the Klobucker Jews	Pesa Chorzewski Zlatnik	247

Klobucker Jews in Extermination Camps
The Zagorz Concentration Camp	Dora Wajs	250
Out of Hiding and to the Zagorz Concentration Camp	Avraham Enzel	253
The Struggle for Life and Existence	Moshe Fajga	254
Hunger and Hard Labor	Berl Yakubowicz	264

Attempts at Resistance in the Camps
The Work in the Tailor Workshop	Moshe Fajga	285
In a German Camp with Members of the Klobuck Judenrat [Jewish council]	Fishl Fajga	290
With Klobuckers in the Torture Camps	Yitzhak Szperling	294
Savage Exploitation and Final Liquidation	Yakov Szmulewicz	298
Liquidation of the concentration camps and the German intention to exterminate the Jews who remained alive	Yakov Szmulewicz	300
We Wanted to Fight Against the Murderers, But We Did Not Have Any Weapons	Avraham Wajs	303
The Heroic Death of the Old Man Hershl Fajga	Moshe Fajga	307
Liberation and Still Between Life and Death	Berl Yakubowicz	310
Episodes from the Time of Extermination	Mordekhai Wajsfelner	316
In the Cleanup Command in Germany	Mordekhai Wajsfelner	322
The Last Jews in the Klobucker Ghetto	Yehuda Szperling	319
How I Captured Holschud, the German Murderer of Jews	Moshe Fajga	326
Committee to Aid the Hungry in Zagocz Camp	Avraham Enzel	328

Experiences of Klobuckers in France During the German Exterminations
Among the French Partisans	Moshe Wajnman	329
My Experiences in France	Noakh Rybsztajn	333
Extermination of the Jewish Communities of Miedzno and its Surroundings		336

German Exterminations
Photographs from Dachau Torture Camp		337
Klobucker Jewish Families Tortured by the Germans		345
El Male Rakhamin [God full of Mercy]		347
Photographs, Family Descriptions, Incomplete List by Name		349
– Szmulewicz family		359

Necrology		394
Klobucker Refugees in Israel, France and in Australia		408
Map of Klobuck Drawn By Adele		428
Concluding Remarks	A. Wolf Jasni	429

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