Journal for the Double Celebration of the 40 Years of the Mutual Aid Society of Belchatow (pages 101-98)

Translated by Arthur Haft (Arie Alter), Sharon Haft (Sharona Fila), and Stephanie Haft (Hinda Esther).

[Pages 101-98]

ABSTRACTS [DESCRIPTIONS] OF YIDDISH ARTICLES IN THIS BULLETIN

EDITORIAL

The editorial [by Y.M. Pukacz] provides a short summary of the projects that were accomplished in the 40 years of the Mutual Aid Society of Belchatow and the 20 years of the Cooperative for Credit, Supplies and Housing. It supports the idea that it is time to account for all that has been accomplished until today and creates a perspective of what has to be done in the future.

It supports the editorial writer's view of his inspirational ideals and activities made by the old generation of Belchatowers, and calls upon the next generation to continue that example – because there are fewer and fewer of the old generation.

The second article by Mr. Leon Hecht – president -- is translated from Castilian.

Z. Przedborski

WE ARE ACTIVE BECAUSE WE HAVE A BELIEF

Przedborski gives an account of the arrival of the first Polish Jewish immigrants from Belchatow -- with very few material goods, but with abundant faith in their hearts, this spirit was brought to this great country, where they found an appropriate place to begin both their new economic and spiritual activities.

Mr. Przedborski recounts their accomplishments, and satisfaction with their cultural and economic projects, and their belief in the ideals that they brought with them from Belchatow to the streets of Jose Cubas.

Jacob Mijulski

THE ACTIVITIES IN OUR HOME

Mr. Mijulski refers to the activities that were accomplished in the large and precious building of the Cooperative “Overcoming,” which consisted of not only providing credit to the shareholders, but also the organization of a large number of cultural activities for the Jewish population of the neighborhood.

        Detailed are some of the many conferences and cultural activities that were accomplished during that time, including lectures in Buenos Aires, visits by foreigners from other countries, and to these we have recently added three more activities, which are:

        The “Third Seder,” which describes the uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto and other struggles. On August 11, we gathered to commemorate the tragic extermination of our little town by the hordes of Nazis on August 11, 1942; and we made the traditional “toast” that we make before the Jewish New Year. In three acts, we have a reunion of our countrymen, who came accompanied by their children.

        Below it continues:

THE “MURAL” PAINTED BY THE FAMOUS ARTIST MANUEL KANTOR

This is a composition of six panels by the famous artist Manuel Kantor. They adorn our headquarters and represent the six stages of Jewish life and struggle. The author states, it is difficult to write about this kind of art, one must look and admire it.

Abraham Laib

MEMORIES OF BELCHATOW

Our veteran (in years, like the presence in the country) Abraham Laib recounts some memories from our forgotten little town, from the famous year 1905, when all the Russian people rebelled and rose against the despotic “Czar,” and the repercussions that this had among the Jews of Belchatow.

Citing a number of names of the organizers, they appointed 23 people – the majority of them were young – they were arrested and sent to Siberia. Nevertheless living among them was a spirit of rebellion, which was expressed in the construction of the Cultural Center, at the first opportunity in the year 1915.

The entire article is written with great emotion and is very characteristic of the “Old – Young” who was Abraham Laib.

Zalman Pudlowski Q.E.P.D.

MY BELOVED TOWN BELCHATOW

        Mr. Zalman Pudlowski was one of the most outstanding personalities of the village. He became a councilman of the Municipal Council of Belchatow, and a representative of the “Bund” party, and a member of the Central Committee in Poland. He left a very interesting story about the villagers; they were considering publishing it in its entirety.

        Its impossible to make an extract of this work, but we advise our readers who do not read Yiddish, that they find someone who can translate this valuable article.

Jacobo Zingler (Miami, EE.UU.)

THE POVERTY OF BYGONE BELCHATOW

        Of all the things that were in Belchatow, what was most emphasized was the poverty. Mr. Jacobo Zingler wrote a long article (of eight pages) about this poverty. He currently lives in Miami, U.S.A.

        The inhabitants of Belchatow were weavers. They worked on assignment and were thus called “hand-machines.” They produced little, having as competitors, workers who worked on modern machines. In the city of Lodz, the author of the article describes not only the poverty, but also the struggle against that poverty and the value and trouble of pursuing work.

Heszke

THE DEDICATION OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY

Heszke, that is a pseudonym, narrates an interesting episode that occurred in Belchatow in the year 1925, during the dedication of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

        This episode is somewhat more than just an episode, but a part of the political interparty and struggles of Belchatow with the other towns of Poland.

I. Zylberszatz

BELCHATOW DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

         These are interesting recollections of the First World War of 1914 to 1918. It was not as cruel as the last (will this be the last?) of 1939 to 1945, but they also had their victims among the civil population, not only the Jews. Belchatow, at the start of the war, was part of Russia, after a fierce struggle it passed to the Germans, who delivered it to Austria and finally it became part of librated Poland. All this is described in concise form by Mr. I. Zylberszatz.

Mendel Pudlowski (New York)

A RECOLLECTION OF THE LAY PEOPLE'S SCHOOL OF BELCHATOW

Mendel Pudlowski is one of the sons of Zalman Pudlowski, who was previously mentioned in a pleasant and narrative form. He describes how school was at the lay People's School of Belchatow. It existed for only three years, but their form of education was very different, compared to what was offered by the “Cheder” or the “Yeshiva.” It was taught in a form of play, and in that form, they also “produced ” the theatre.

        This narrative comes as an answer to their daughter, who asks, where are our cousins; it is also interesting for the adults to know how modern the Jewish lay schools were.

A. Belchatover

BELCHATOW MUST BE CONSECRATED IN THE “BET HATEFUTSOTH”

        In Israel, they are building, or better yet, they have already built, a new place to record everything that is or was Judaism in the world, mainly in the last centuries.

        Together with the institutions “Yad Vashem,” “Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot – The Ghetto Fighters Kibbutz,” the “Martef Hashoah” (the Cellar of the Holocaust), they made the “Bet Hatefutsoth” [Museum of the Jewish Diaspora], which describes all that the Jewish towns created in the diaspora (or galuth) during the last two thousand years.

        In this sacred place, we cannot and must not forget the name of the village Belchatow! That is how our compatriots of Israel understood it, and how our companions of the United States, and how our friends of Brazil contributed, and this is how we must also.

        Because the last sparks of those who knew Belchatow are being quenched, if we do not do it ourselves no one will replace us.

Salomón Zytnicki

ZALMAN PUDLOWSKI – ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH

         This article makes a small monograph of the personality, and at the same time, the companionship of Zalman Pudlowski, and makes it on the tenth anniversary of his death.

        Mr. Zytnicki relates the significance of his friend and teacher, Z. Pudlowski, not only for defending the Belchatow workers and the poor of the city, but also how he excelled among companions of the “Bund,” where he was a member of the Central Committee. Flattered with some prizes from said party, and like in his last moments of his life, he achieved great recognition from everyone

Sz. Waserman

“NOSTALGIA”

        The poet expresses with simple words and phrases, but with great emotion and no less eloquence than: “He knows the Pacific, like the Atlantic and the Silver River, but with all this, he has a great nostalgia for his little brook that neither has a name nor is it labeled on any map, but where his mother washed his clothes.” With these emphatic words, he explains the nostalgia and love that we all have for our native villagers.

Mendel Kaufman (Israel)

MY RECOLLECTIONS OF BELCHATOW AND MY OUTLOOK IN ISRAEL

        The author of this long and judicious article divides his life into three parts: the first years of childhood and youth in Belchatow. The second large part in Lodz after the war, where he lived twelve years and became disillusioned. The last twenty years where he worked in a kibbutz, that had a fruit orchard of great size of up to 20 hectares each orchard. He concludes that, of the three parts of his life, the best part was in Israel.

Mr. Yarkowitch [Zarkawski] (Israel)

WE ALWAYS REMEMBER BELCHATOW

        In this article, Mr. Yarkowitch makes a pathetic call to always remember what they taught us in Belchatow, in spite of the town not having important people, but many good people.

Hillel Belchatowski (New York)

BELCHATOW BEFORE AND AFTER THE WAR

        The author describes how the Nazis started their barbarous acts against the Jews, and in the first days of their entry to Belchatow, many (he among them) were saved by crossing into Russia. They also suffered, but they were secure with their life. After the war, they thought about returning to their villages. Belchatow had few remaining Jews, and of those few that remained, they were threatened by the anti-Semitic Poles. They returned to Germany, and later to the United States, where they found a new life to which they adapted.

J.M.P.

FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR COUNTRYMEN AROUND THE WORLD

        The author describes the relationship between the Mutual Aid Society and the Societies of Israel and of New York. How they completed their projects and how they helped each other.

Leibl Pudlowski Q.E.P.D. (Israel)

HOW WE LIVED AND WORKED IN BELCHATOW

        Leibl Pudlowski belonged to the “Dynasty Pudlowski” that was so emphasized in our villages. Recently he lived in Israel. We sent him a request that he write us something about his wanderings in our town and around the world, something he always agreed to. However, in the mean time, death surprised him, and in this, we published a necrological note on his life and his work.

        However, we published his article. The article was written clearly and concisely, and it uncovered various parts of life, work and culture of Belchatow.

H. Goldminc

AN ENCOUNTER WITH OUR OLDEST COUNTRYMAN IN ISRAEL

Mr. H. Goldminc, together with his wife visited Israel and hoped to meet the oldest countryman who was also the first “halutz” in Israel.

        It deals with Morris Freitag, who was in Israel since the year 1930, and is currently called M. Efrati. He finds himself in a home for the aged and laments that so few imitated his example.

J. Zingler (Miami, EE.UU.)

ABOUT THE CHEDERS (RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS) AND TEACHERS IN BELCHATOW

        The author describes in a humorous fashion the “melamdim” (religious school teachers) of Belchatow, who hit more than they taught, and were called “pedagogues” by the majority of the town, where there was no modern high school.

Sujer Szatan (Israel)

WITH THE PEOPLE OF BELCHATOW AFTER THE WAR

        The author reports on the incidents that happened to him, after his arrival in his hometown, after the war ended. How he was pursued by the anti-Semitic Polish people and then he returned to Germany. He realized the first memorable act and finally taking root in his true country Israel.

An authentic witness reports:

AUGUST 11, 1942, THEY ANNIHILATED THE JEWS OF BELCHATOW

A witness authenticated what happened to the last of the Jews of Belchatow, by the hands of the Nazis. He describes the final day when the last two thousand Jews were sent to their death. This is not literature – but life -- or better said, the death of all the Jews of Belchatow.

J.M. Pukach

“AND MY FATHER SMILED SADLY”

        This is not fiction, but a true report of a child – who is the author – and who went hungry because his father was part of a strike by the weavers. They were waiting for some miracle, hoping to find something to eat, and this “miracle” arrived, when they entered a house of a friend, where there was a large black bread, from which his father cut a piece, which he hid in his pockets.

* * *

Due to space limitations, we are not going to describe the other articles but will mention Mendel Gliksman (of Paris); Mendel Klug; I. Stolarewski; Isaac Luden and Mrs. B. Fraiman and Hodl Gliksman, who wrote about various topics.

        We are also going to mention the necrological notes on Chaim Feivel Naparstek, the painter Gedalyah Tenenbaum, Dr. Ignacio Sapolanski, Jehuda Plawner, Leibl Pudlowski and many others who are named in the article by Jacob Meyer, “Men of our Midst [milieu],” and in the poem of José Rubinstein, “There goes our generation,” and the chronicles of the first luncheon.

        And we will end with the traditional sentence: “May they rest in peace”.

Table of Contents

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities. This material may not be copied, sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be reserved by the copyright holder.

JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification. JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions. Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.

Belchatow, Poland Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page

Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field
This web page created by Lance Ackerfeld