Krynki, Poland (Page 153-154)

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Education And Culture

Translated by Eszter Andor and finished by Judie Goldstein

The Secular School In Yiddish

It was in the field of children's education that the Jews of Krinki carried out the most exemplary work in the period under study, devoting a lot of efforts and hard work to it. We have already discussed their achievements in the field of religious education with the creation of the cheder haklaki in Krinki. In the field of a more or explicitly secular Jewish education there was a rivalry between the Hebrew educational system and the secular Yiddish elementary school, which was established in 1919.

kry153.jpg - The administration of the secular Yiddish school

The administration of the secular Yiddish school with
the guest from America, Lewis Sheyn (“Leybke Naskes”)

[p. 154]

“In the dark and bitter times when people were swollen with hunger, the Jewish workers of Krinki thought of founding an elementary school”, wrote Issakhar Fink. “The school constantly struggled for its survival because it had very little money and it had to work in an atmosphere characterized by a lack of understanding on the part of the Jewish public of the town. But many children from Jewish worker and artisan families finished the school year after year with a significant amount of knowledge and erudition, which helped them to push their way through in life.”

By the beginning of 1920, the school had 138 pupils and another 93 students followed evening classes. The school was regularly harassed by the government, which closed it for some time at the beginning of the 1923/24 school year. The school, which was named after the Warsaw center of the Tsisho, had an exceptionally devoted teaching staff. The school was influenced by the Bund, and the Bundist scout group (the Skif) recruited many of its members from among the pupils of the Yiddish school. Krinki compatriots recall the school with pleasure especially because of the nice performances and celebrations, which were organized a few times a year.

kry154.jpg - The leadership, the teachers and the activists of the Yiddish elementary school in 1928

The leadership, the teachers and the activists
of the Yiddish elementary school in 1928

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