Yizkor Book of the Holy Community
of Zawiercie and Environs
(Poland)

50°29' / 19°26'

Translation of
Sefer Zikaron; kedoshei Zawiercie ve-ha-seviva

Edited by Sh. Spivak

Published in Tel Aviv 1948


 

Acknowledgments

Coordinator

Ruth Wilnai

 

Donated to JewishGen by Jerrold Landau in loving memory of his grandfather,
Jacob Landau, born 1896 in Zawiercie and died 1980 in Ottawa.
Also in memory of Jacob Landau's sister Frymet, who lived in Zawiercie until the war and perished
in the Holocaust along with her husband, Jakob Schwartz, and nine of their ten children.

This is a translation from: Sefer zikaron; kedoshei Zawiercie ve-ha-seviva
(Yizkor Book of the Holy Community of Zawiercie and Environs),
Ed: Sh. Spivak, Tel Aviv, Former residents of Zawiercie and Vicinity, 1948 (H, Y 570 pages)

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


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Translated by Jerrold Landau

Note from translator: This book does not have a table of contents or an index. An interesting anomaly exists with regards to the title of the book. Although, the title on the cover of the book is “Yizkor Book for the Martyrs of Zawiercie and Environs,” the title on the title page of the book is “Yizkor Book of the Holy Community of Zawiercie and Environs.” The latter name is also being used as the official name of this project in JewishGen.

 

Title page, forward, and introductory notes The Organizing Committee and Editorial Board 1
Introduction (H & Y)   9
The Development of Industry in Zawiercie – The Reasons Why (Y) Sh. Spivak 13
 
HOW CAN I FORGET YOU 17
 
How Can I Forget My Native Town? (H) Pinchas Erlich 19
A City Bustling with Life (H) Nechemia Erlich 21
Leaving Home (H) Mindzia Schwartz-Jakubowicz 25
I Yearn for You (Y) Andzia Perelmuter-Spigelman (Montreal) 27
A Still Night in Zawiercie (Y) Moshe Neuman (Ramat Hakovesh) 28
 
IT ONCE WAS 29
 
History of the Zawiercie Area – A General Survey (Y) Sh. Spivak 31
Ancient History of the Region (Y)
   Old Zawiercie
   Old Żarki
   Old Kromołów
   Old Siewierz
  33
Modern History of the Region (Y)
   Zawiercie
   Żarki
   Lośnice
   Łazy
   Kromołów
   Siewierz
  36
Documents and Sources of the History of the City and the Region (Y)   39
Statistics on the Jewish Population of the Zawiercie Region in Modern Times (Y)   41
First Record of Jews in the in the Zawiercie Region (Y)
   Częstochowa
   Będzin
   The Railway Line
  42
Zawiercie in Jewish Newspapers (H)   49
 
MY ZAWIERCIE – STREETS AND LANES IN THE CITY 53
 
The Station (Y) Sh. Spivak 55
Streets of Zawiercie (Y) Israel Drezner 58
Along the Streets and Lanes of Zawiercie by Tzvi Shapiro (Y)
   The Synagogue Courtyard
   The Beis Midrash
   The Synagogue
   At the Well
   Fires
   “Pietrowa Place”
   The Club in the Apteczna
  61
 
FIRST TESTIMONIES 67
 
Memories of Zawiercie and its Jews (H)
   The Establishment of a Synagogue and the Beis Midrash
   The Synagogue and the Beis Midrash – Two Spiritual Centers
   Events of the Synagogue
   The Beis Midrash, its Worshippers, its Customs and Protocols on Sabbaths
   The Beis Midrash on Weekdays
   The Gabbaim [trustees] Closed Down the Beis Midrash for Two Weeks
   The Style of Education of Jewish Youth in Those Days
   The Influence of the Synagogue and the Beis Midrash on the Youth
   The Sanitation Situation in the City
   Healing and Remedies
   Incantations
   Folk Remedies
   Linat Tzedek
   Wonderful Superior Virtues of Zawiercie Jews
   Brotherhood and Solidarity among Zawiercie Jews
   The Dedication of a Torah Scroll
   Entertainment and Amusement
   Shtibels (small Chassidic prayer houses) and Admorim (Chassidic masters)
   The End of the Story
   Players and Jesters in the City
Alter Honigman, known as Alter Meir David Lelewers 69
From the Early Days (H)
   Alef. Men of Strength
   Beit. The Epidemic in Zawiercie
   Gimel. In Poverty and Want
   Daled. I Returned to Zawiercie
   He. The Dispute over the Rabbinate
   Vav. How I Became Self Employed
   Zayin. “The Committees”
Yitzchak Yaakov Erlich 120
My Early Years in Zawiercie (Y) Birech Blatt 133
Personalities of Zawiercie (H) Y. Markowa 135
Our City Zawiercie (H) D. Erlichman 136
My Memories of Zawiercie (H) Shimon Friedman 141
“Once…Once…” (Y)
   The Town of Zawiercie – A Center of Industry
   Social–Political Developments
Monika Warnesko 144
“Zawiercie (or Zavartshe)” (Y)
   Beginnings
   Zawiercie Becomes a Town
   In the Run–Up to the Second World War
Itsik Roytmentsh 149
Memories (H) Y. Zigelbaum 153
 
MY ZAWIERCIE – THE LANDSCAPE OF CHILDHOOD 155
 
Grandfather's Home (H)
   Grandfather and his Manners
   The People of Grandfather's “Courtyard”
   Michal and Jaszek
   His Children
   Uncle Binyamin
   Uncle Nachum
   Aunt Elka
   Uncle Hershel
   Uncle Yisrael
   Uncle Chaim
Shabtai Keshev (Klugman) 157
Memories of a Social–Activist Home (Y)
   Moszkowicz's House
   The Felznshteyns
   Social Activism
   City Types
   Leybesz, Meir, and Yisroel Frank
   Kopl Szimen Minc
   Synagogue Caretakers
   Businessmen and Artists
   Szloyme Todroskes
   Cantorial Music and My Father's Choir
   Leybl Dimant
   Leybezh Yoyl Leber and Lewortowski
Matilda Werdiger–Spiwak 170
In the Good Childhood Years (Y)
    In Shwartzbaum's House
   One Makes A Living
   The Eves of Sabbaths and Festivals
   Thursday at the Market
   Avramele's Wedding
   The Synagogue and the Study Hall
Shimon Feigenblatt 184
The Development of Communal Activity and Communal Life in Jewish Zawiercie (Y)
   The Storm of Immigration from the Small Shtetlekh
   “The Germans”
   Maskilim [members of the enlightenment movement]
   Maskilim-Zionists
   The Democratic Spirit in the Synagogue
   Socialists
   The Young Jews Leave Zawiercie
   The Younger Generation
   “Tzeirei Zion” [Young Zion]
Dr. Yeshayahu Baumac 190
Memories of Zawiercie (Y)
   I was Born in Zawiercie
   The Beginnings of Zawiercie
   Before the Russo–Japanese War
   During the War: 1914–1918
   “Conditions” as a Pass (A Tragi–Comic Event)
Yekhiel Dancyger 202
Socialist Struggles in Poland (Y) Shlomo Aleksander Danziger 212
During the Years 1905-1906 (Y) Ahron Benyamin Lugerner (New York) 215
The First Families in Zawiercie (H)
   The Descendants of Reb Yeshaya Haberman
Yeshaya Landau 219
Shlomo'le's Childhood Years (Y) Dovid Landau, of blessed memory 221
A Journalist Visits Zawiercie (Y)
   What kind of place is Zawiercie?
A. Litwin 228
A City is Built (Y)
   (A Story, Half Fact and Half Fiction)
   (from the book “Tzvishen Vent”, New York, 1939)
Moshe Dovid Keszir (Kasier) 233
 
THE ENVIRONS OF ZAWIERCIE 236
 
Memories of Kromołów (Y) Tovya Fogel 236
Kromołów, the Mother of Zawiercie (Y) Yehuda (Leibel) Dimant 241
Kromołów – A Shtetl as in a Sholem Aleichem Story (Y)   243
The Old Shtetl of Krimelew (Y)   245
Mrzygłód (Y) Shimon Geldner 246
 
WITH MURDER, STRANGLING, AND TORTURE – FIRE AND DESTRUCTION 249
 
Poems of the Holocaust   251
Ash (Y) Aleksander-Shlomo Danciger 251
Walking in the Face of Destruction (H & Y) Sh. Spivak 252
City of My Birth (Y) Aleksander-Shlomo Danciger 254
Revenge David Landau of blessed memory 255
In the Shadow of Horror (H) Chaim 256
In the Whirlwind of Days and Blood (H) Y. Greizer 257
From the Depths I Call Out to You (H) A Yiddish letter from David Ziriker to Yosef Landau, Zawiercie, 1946 266
On the Road of Destruction and Death (Y)
   27th August 1939
   28th of August
   Out of a Storm and into a Fire
   Back Home
   “Wartenau”
   Markstädt and Attmuth Camps
   Kotlice Starobin Concentration Camp
   The Camp for the Political at Buchenwald
   The Final Death March from Buchenwald
Yisroel Dresner 267
The Destruction of Zawiercie (Y) Yoel Grinkraut 286
In the Vise of Death (Y)
   Panic after the First Rumors
   The arrival of the German troops
Chaim Turner 303
A Day of Horror (Y) Yisrael Yitzchak Grinbaum 320
From Załęże to Myszków and Zawiercie (Y) Elana Freiberger-Polak 325
Surviving the Second World War by a Miracle (Y) Zvi Szpira 329
The Hell in Kromołów (Y)
   Do Not Buy from Jews
   The Order about Turning in Things of Value and about Yellow Patches
   Agreement of the Rabbi and the Kromołów Jews
   The Commandant Pak
   The First Transport to Germany
   The Trade
   My Father is Freed
   A Gallows in the Middle of the Market
   I Leave My Kromołów
Bronya Landau-Brat 343
Families who lived in Kromołów (Y)   350
I Will Never Forget (Y) Mania Fajgenblat (Brat), Montreal 351
Chapter of an Era of Horror (Y)
   The Second Deportation in Zawiercie
   A Beautiful Dream of a Large Aliyah
David Brott 354
On the Ruins of My Dear Zawiercie (Y) Ayzyk Roytmentsh 361
A Mrzygłód native in the Concentration Camps (Y) Shimeon Geldner 369
Fellow Zawiercie Natives in the Ghetto and the Concentration Camps (Y) Dr Yisroel Bornstein in Munich 376
The Last Three Days of Jewish Zawiercie (Y) Tzvi Czebiner 383
Nazi Edicts in Zawiercie (Y) Chaya Senderowicz-Soika 388
The Righteous Man in Sodom
   The Rabbi of Zawiercie – Rabbi Elimelech Rabinowicz (H)
Yehuda Rozmiosh 392
The Tragic Destruction of the Zawiercier Jews (Y) A. Sztulberg 396
 
ORGANIZATION, ALIYA, AND CULTURE 399
 
In The Organizational realm   401
Organization of Natives of Zawiercie Its Tasks and Activities (H & Y) Nakhum Drezner (Member of the council of the organization) 404
Memories (Y) Yosef Finkl 409
A Greeting from the Zawiercier Landsmanschaft in Montreal (Canada) (Y) Y. Kravetz (Society president) and Y. Bozikovski (Society secretary) 411
The American Union of the Zawiercier Natives (Y) Jack Feigen (Feigenblatt) 413
 
IN THE PATHS OF ALIYA 414
 
My Father Emigrated to Eretz-Yisroel (Y) Tzvi Szpira 414
The Zawiercier Shack (Y) Shimeon Fajgenblat 416
The Story of the Zawiercie Shack (H) Yissachar Borenstein 425
 
INSTITUTIONS AND PERSONALITIES 429
 
The Orthodox Community and its Institutions in Zawiercie (H)
   Personalities and Institutions
   “Beit HaTalmud”
   “Migdal Oz” Yeshiva
   Shtiebelach
   Yeshiva Heads (Rosh Yeshiva) and Lesson Teachers (Magidei Shiur)
   Rabbi HaGaon Reb S. A. Pardes and the monthly Biblical journal“Pardes”
   The Gaon tzaddik Reb A.Z. Fromer (the Rabbi of Kezsziglow)
   The Rabbinic Controversy
   The Election Results
Yaakov Shlomo Pardes 431
National Religious Groups in Zawiercie and their Institutions (Y)
   Yizkor Let us Remember
   An Example of the Physical Destruction
   The “Torah Va'daat” School
   “Hashomer Hadati”
   The Great Destruction
Dr. (of medicine and dentistry) Y. Borenstein 443
The Torah vaAvodah Movement (Y) Tzvi Szapiro 449
Khederim, Melamdim in Zawericie (Y)   451
In the Paths of Torah and Knowledge (H)
   From the Experiences of Reb Shimele
Yeshaya Landau 452
Religious Life in Our City (Y)
   The Forman Family – Well-known Bal-tfiles
   [prayer leaders] and Prominent Communal Workers
Rywka Froman-Zeglman 458
The Torah vaAvodah Movement
and the Bruria Organization in Zawiercie
  461
Bygone Times in Zawiercie (H & Y) Shraga Shpeizer (Shaar Hagolan) 464
 
PERSONALITIES 466
 
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Landau of blessed memory (memories) (H) Rabbi Yehuda Avida (Zlotnik) 466
The Admor of Kromołów and His Household (H) Yeshaya Landau 468
Rabbi Shmuel Aaron Halevi Pardes of blessed memory and His Pardes Journal (H)   471
Rabbi Yeshayahu Shapiro of blessed memory (H) Sh. Spivak 473
The Illustrious Rabbi Aryeh Fromer (the Rabbi of Kozieglowy) may his blood be avenged (H) Falk-Zegelman 477
Memories of my Youth (Y) Yizi Rosenberg 478
From Pirkhe Agudas Yisroel [boys division of Union of Israel]
to Tsukunft [Future]
(Y)
A. Paserman 480
Rabbi Yoel Zwigel (H) Yeshaya Landau 481
 
EDUCATION AND CULTURE 483
 
The First Jewish Kindergarten in Zawiercie (H) Shoshana Steinberg Bar Natan of Magdiel 483
The Tarbut School (H) Chaya Efron Rothstein (founder of the Tarbut School in Zawiercie) 485
My Parents – A Pair of Teachers in Zawiercie (H) Chedva Gil (Leizerowicz) 487
Koppel Mintz of blessed memory (H) Meir Isserowski of Magdiel 490
Reb Mordechai Zeev Shechter (H) B. Sh. 491
Teachers in Zawiercie (H)
   Reb Lazer Melamed
   The Teacher Rosenberg
   Menashe Frankel
Moshe (Mietek) Neuman 492
Musical Life in Zawiercie (H)
   Fiddlers
   Pianists
   The Young “Group of Three”
   Travels with the Philharmonic and my meetings with Zawiercie Natives
Reuven-Romek Rothenstein, a member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra 494
My Road as an Artist (Y) Harry Wajnglik 500
Reb Reuven Zarmof (H)
   A Well Known Orthodox Poet at the Beginning of the Time of the Haskala
Yitzchak Yaakov Erlich (Itshe Erlich) 503
The Kultura Organization (Y) Esther Zaks 509
The Kultura Cultural Organization (Y) Nachum Drezner 512
Youth Movements (Hashomer Hatzair, Herzlia, Hashachar) (H) Yitzchak Shtinkeler 513
Herzlia, An Educational Youth Group (H) Meir Isserowski 518
Sections of Memories of Zawiercie (H) Avraham Shlomo Grinblatt 521
 
YOUTH AND SPORT 524
 
The Youth Movements in Zawiercie (H)
   Hashomer Hatzair
   Hakoach
M. Neuman 524
Pioneering and Sport Activities in Zawiercie (Y) Yosef Leib Fisher 530
Beitar in Zawiercie (H) David Brott 534
Youth Movements in Zawiercie (Y) Sala-Jakubowicz-Zilberstein 537
Sport in Zawiercie (H) Avraham Shlomo Grinblatt 542
About the Representative from the Hechalutz Center (H) Yerachmiel Zlabinski 544
 
ECONOMIC LIFE 545
 
Zawiercie Financial and Economic Institutions (Y)
   The Financial Situation of the Jews of Zawiercie
   Around the Area of Zawiercie
Sh. S. 545
Industry and Manufacturing in Zawiercie (H) Yitzchak Windman 548
 
CHAPTERS OF EVENTS 550
 
Foundations of the Reality (H)
   The Zawiercie Klezmers (H)
   The Balfour Declaration in Zawiercie (H)
   Erev Shabbos and Shabbos in Zawiercie (Y)
   Tashlikh [a ceremony by the river on Rosh Hashana] (Y)
   The Mikva [ritual bath] (Y)
   Water Drawers (H)
   Charitable Institutions (H)
   Gemilat Chesed
    Linat Tzedek
Moshe (Mietek) Neuman 550
In the Company of the Assimilationists (H)
   names of assimilationists mentioned on page 561 – Broniatowski, Lewinowicz, Bernard Helman, Bagacki, Rosen
St. Vitzich 560
In a non-Hassidic Shtibel (Y) Aaron Binyamin (Yome) Lugerner 562
Yakov Hersh Czebiner (Y) His grandchildren 566
Reb Shmuel Saika (H) Reb Itche Erlich 567
Shalom Granek of blessed memory (H) Y. Rosenblum 568
Avraham Dafner of blessed memory (H) Yosef Lipmen 570
Yizkor [memorial] Dedication section (47 unnumbered pages following page 570)   571
 
Addenda added by the Translation Project
   (not part of original book)
 
Photo captions Compiled by the translator
Necrology Distilled from an early translation of the Yizkor Dedications section.
(Note: some name spellings may differ from the current version.)

 


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