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IN ORDER to describe the activities of the modern nationalist and socialist movements in our city, we must first return for a -moment to the age of the Jewish Enlightenment. Although the Jewish Enlightenment was not directly related to these movements, to a certain extent it laid the groundwork for their development by producing talented individuals, who later served the political organizations.

It should immediately be mentioned that the Jewish Enlightenment found relatively little sympathy in Chrzanow. The movement did not inspire the same selfsacrificing enthusiasm in our city as in the rest of Poland, or in the Russian Pale of Settlement, where love of secular culture was an overwhelming passion. In those regions this passion demanded many young Jewish sacrificial victims, who lost their health and became tubercular in the brutal conditions in which Jewish students lived at the time. The lack of involvement may perhaps be explained by the fact that Chrzanow was located close to the centers of culture. Since no particular restrictions were placed on Jews, and since they could eat openly the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, the evil impulse had less influence and the passion lost its sharp edge.

Only a few individuals permitted their children to be students at the end of the last century. Interestingly, these Jews were not “secular.” The fathers of the future doctors and lawyers were pious men with beards and peyes, who wore Chasidic clothing, shtreimelech, and silk overcoats. They had certainly never missed an afternoon or evening prayer in their lives, nor had they failed to pour water over their fingertips when they arose in the morning.

We would like to name here two of these citizens of our town who, in letting their children study, were motivated by Enlightenment impulses and Jewish nationalist ambitions in addition to practical material considerations. The first was Reb Leybl Cyfer along with his wife Fannie, who gave Dr. Shmuel Cyfer to our city, and in whose house the first Zionist circle in Chrzanow had its earliest meetings. The second was Reb Mordechai Shaul and his wife Chane Schwartzbart, whose children were among the first Zionists in Western Galicia not to mention their son Itzchak, the future Sejm deputy. They raised their children not only in the spirit of the Enlightenment, but first and foremost in the nationalist Jewish spirit. The eldest son, Engineer Dr. Joseph Schwartzbart, who lived in Bruenn (Czech territory), was a pioneer of Zionist thought and developed strong Zionist activities. He died in Israel. Their second son, Dr. Aron (Adolf) Schwartzbart, a well-known medical expert and active Zionist, lived in Tel-Aviv. Their only daughter, Dr. Eli Rieger, was a professor in the teachers' seminary in Tel-Aviv. These details demonstrate the Zionist character

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of the education these parents gave their children.

These two families gave Jewish Chrzanow two brilliant personalities of whom the city was justly proud: Dr. Shmuel Cyfer and Dr. Itzchak Schwartzbart. Although the latter took no major part in the development of the youth organizations of Chrzanow, they served as an example of national pride and Zionist enthusiasm in a time of deeply-entrenched political and cultural assimilation, which touched a large portion of our people.

Reb Leybl Cyfer also deserved credit for having the initiative to be among the founders of the first Zionist organization in Chrzanow after the publication of Herzl's The Jewish State. This group consisted of Enlighteners and Torah Jews who raised money for the settlement of Erets Israel, working under strictly conspiratorial conditions. In order to avoid attracting the attention of all the various rebes of the time, who suspected Zionism of heresy, those true idealists continued their work until the youth took over the Zionist idea and carried it into the open. The names of the first Zionist pioneers may be recorded here for posterity:

Reb Leybl Cyfer
Reb Mordechai (Saul) Schwartzbart
Reb Yehoshua Holander
Reb Ziml Shternfeld
Reb Shimen Biderman
Reb Shabsay Vurtsel

Quiet, modest, without noise or tumult, were the beginnings of the first purely Herzlian Zionist society, Bnai Zion. If we are not mistaken, this group was created in an attic room in Eliezer Boruch's house across from the community building (the magistrate). Conspiracy was a necessity because the first comrades of the Bnai Zion were “silk and satin,” youth from the privileged classes. They were students of the Talmud who had left their studies and wore silk coats and kolpakes- a sable shtreimel which the Chasidic youth used to wear on the Sabbath. Since they had no trade to earn a living, they lived at the mercy of their pious fathers, and their dependence on their parents forced them to be discreet. Most of all, however, they were well-raised children who did not want to cause their parents any unnecessary anguish. On the other hand, their love of Zion was genuine and hot, full of enthusiasm and commitment.

This initially small circle eventually developed into a significant pleiad of conscious Zionist activists, who carried out thoroughgoing nationalish and Zionist propaganda activities. Their forum for these activities was the so-called “Toynbee

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Hall, “ which took place on winter Saturday evenings in the large room at Leybisch Klein's house, where well-known Zionists from Cracow, such as Dr. Shimon Feldblum, Dr. Bulva, Dr. Itzchak Schwartzbart, Dr. Chaim Hilfshtein and others came to give lectures.

Some 30 plus years later, the first pioneers left the ranks of the Bnai Zion in Chrzanow for Erets Israel, carrying Herzl's Jewish State in their packs. They led the way toward realizing Zionism, even though they were the children of well-to-do parents. They were the avant-garde of the several hundred Chrzanow Jews who later emigrated and thus saved themselves from Hitler's Hen and slaughter. Hershl Klein, Shimon Volf Yungervirt and Shloyme Guter-these Enlighteners and kolpakbachurim had enough sense and courage to forge a better future for the Jewish people.

After the departure of these first members of Bnai Zion, the work did not diminish; on the contrary, it increased in intensity. Thanks to the effective and energetic Zionist work of its members, such as the tragically murdered Lipe Wiener, Hershl Bochenek, Kalmen Proper and Moyshe Leyzer Wachsberg (Pidele), Bnai Zion always took the lead in all of the Zionist institutions, such as the Jewish National Fund, the Jewish Foundation Fund, and the rest of the national and Zionist undertakings.

After World War I, thanks to the establishment of the general Zionist youth organization Akiba, which acted as a transfusion of new blood on the older Zionists, Bnai Zion became even more lively. Hebrew teachers were brought to town, and thanks to the tireless Zionist activist Aron Grajower, served their people faithfully until their tragic death. May these few lines serve as a monument to them.

In fairness, we must admit that the Jewish Socialist Party, as it was originally called- later known as the Bund- at first displayed impressive and moving activism in Chrzanow. There were two reasons for this. First, there was strong support from the Polish Socialist Party, which was then at the height of its strength, and which boasted its popular Galician tribune, Daszinski and Marek in Western Galicia and Diamant and Liberman in Eastern Galicia. These men enjoyed extraordinary popularity among the working masses. The second reason was more important. A group of socialist idealists, fanatically intense fighters and competent, intelligent Chrzanow organizers, including the major Bundist activists Nachman Shneyder, Herman Helfer, and later Sholem Goldshtein, filled in the gaps in the Bund as a Jewish movement with their own personal acts, sense of life, and faith in socialism. It wasn't the Bund as an ideological movement that was successful in Chrzanow. However, until the Zionist parties appeared on the scene, the leaders of the Bundist party managed to gather around themselves certain parts of the Jewish population.

Undeniably, the Bund was the first group to bring a bit of light to the oppressed artisans of Chrzanow. This was accomplished more in the spiritual than in the economic realm. The Bundist activists were the first to bring delegates from Cracow,

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who arranged various cultural productions and also supplied the young people with Yiddish literature.

The Bund's appearance among the Jewish public in Chrzanow caused a stormy reaction on the part of the pious Chasidic masses. The latter were not acquainted with the movement's goals, and saw the Bund as attempting to destroy Judaism and lead the youth away from the true path. But the reaction of the Chasidirn, who later responded in force, was not really aimed against the Bund; rather, it was primarily a natural agitation against progressive tendencies, against the “little Gentiles” who didn't want to obey the good and pious people. The Bund, through its open hostility to traditional Judaism, only summoned the wolf from the forest. It became the scapegoat for a major offensive carried out by the pious Jews of Chrzanow one Sabbath in the summer of 1905.

One Friday afternoon the Bund displayed a sign announcing that on the afternoon of the Sabbath, a speaker from Cracow would be present. (Apparently this was Dr. Bros.) The rabbi, Reb Naftoli, countered this with an announcement that people were to assemble and forbid this desecration of the Sabbath. After the Sabbath meal, crowds of Jews in their Sabbath garments streamed to the assembly area in front of the synagogue, foregoing their accustomed Sabbath nap. A large demonstration began at the synagogue and went to Krzyska Street, where Bund headquarters were located. When they arrived at the locked headquarters, the rabbi and the crowd stopped. In the rabbi's presence, one man in the crowd broke through a window and threw out everything he could lay his hands on-books, newspapers, and correspondence. He also came upon a postcard bearing information concerning the time of the speaker's arrival. With such clear evidence, the rabbi and the entire crowd set off for the train station. (Here they had to wear their kerchiefs around their necks, because they were outside the boundaries within which they were permitted to carry objects during the Sabbath.) The speaker arrived at the station and unwittingly fell into the crowd of Chasidirn, who gave him a thorough thrashing, beating him mercilessly and piercing him with pins they had brought from home. He was barely recognizable when they were through with him.

The epilogue of this incident, played out in court, is unimportant for our purposes. But two elements are indeed worth noting. One is the decisiveness and aggressiveness of the zealous defenders of religious Judaism and especially of their leaders, Reb Shloyme Naiman, Tall Yoske, and others, who rightfully or wrongfully threw themselves into the battle. On the other hand was the calm behavior of the youth at that time, who avoided physical arguments throughout that period of hot debate.

At first the Socialist Zionist workers' movement had difficulty establishing itself firmly in Chrzanow, since the Bund had already captured the loyalty of a significant portion of the working class. It was even harder to take on the Bund's talented leaders, Herman Helfer and Nachman Shneyder. But the power of the Zionist idea

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overcame every obstacle. Energy, patience, and stubbornness on the part of the Labor Zionists strengthened the organization at a time when the Bund ruled the hearts and minds of a large number of workers.

In a short while the Labor Zionists, thanks to their energetic activist Mordechai Shor, the two brothers Blitzer, Chaim Wiener and, first and foremost, the eternally youthful Motl Rosner m/b/a, began to make headway among the workers. Their frequent meetings, speeches, and entertainments brought new life to town. Thanks to the Labor Zionists and their activities on behalf of Jewish culture in general, Chrzanow soon was graced with such world-famous guest speakers as Dr. Natan Birnbaum (Matisyohu Akhar), Dr. Chaim Zhitlowsky and Dr. Yitschok Schiper. Zionist labor leaders such as Berl Loker, Leah Chazanowitsh, and (Casriel) Nachman Mifelev were frequent guests among the Labor Zionists of Chrzanow.

Although stagnation was the general rule among the Jewish parties during the war years 1914-1918, since some of the young men were at the front fighting for the Austrian empire, others were serving with the military behind the lines, and many remained “neutral” in attics and cellars- nevertheless the Labor Zionists of Chrzanow did not stop working. Motl Rosner, who was the ideologue and, for all intents and purposes, the leader of the Labor Zionists after Mordechai Shor's departure for America, strengthened the party's work. The group known as Frayhayt was transformed in later years into a Zionist pioneering movement, led by Avrom Tagner, who emigrated to Palestine a short time before the Holocaust.

After the split between Left and Right Labor Zionism, the group known as Unity reigned in Chrzanow thanks to the activities of the well-known Hebrew teacher Menachem b/m. The socialist Zionist idea took hold among ever-widening circles of the working class, thanks in large measure to the intelligence and dedication of the leading comrades of Unity, such as Yechezkl Guter, Berek Laufer, and Izak Urbach. After World War 1, this labor Zionist group provided the largest number of Zionist pioneers, and in the last years before the Holocaust, a youth group named Gordonia was established, by the active Unity member Yakov Forst. This group was very helpful in spreading the pioneering spirit among the young people of Chrzanow, thanks to whom quite a number managed to get out in time.

This girls' society in Chrzanow only existed from about 1910 until 1914, and its precise nature cannot be delineated. Actually the group was not connected to any of the Jewish parties but was, rather, an artificially created umbrella group, beneath which Enlightenment tendencies took shelter. In the conditions which obtained at that time, it was worthwhile in itself for daughters of Chasidic homes, of pious fathers and mothers, to have the chance to come together in their own space, in a thoroughly Jewish atmosphere, to hear lectures about Jewish and general literature and Jewish current affairs. This alone was a real gain for these Jewish girls, who were destined to bring up the next Jewish generation.

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But in fact, the “Rachel” society actually did preparatory work for all of the Jewish nationalist parties. It awakened national consciousness among the Jewish women at a time when assimilationism and pietism combined to combat the national consciousness of the Jewish people.

Cadres of women sympathetic to Jewish nationalism and members of WIZO were among the products of this society.

The “Rachel” society was unique to Chrzanow. Its members were recruited from amongst various classes and segments of the population. Its leaders, as far as we can remember, were: Libe Klein; Chayetshe Lezer, later Karol; Faygush Gasner, later Fishler; Yocheved Dunkelblum, later Haftl; Malke Rosenbaum, later Klein; and the sisters Zajac.

Mizrachi was virtually the last of the Zionist parties to be established, although in a city as religious and pious as Chrzanow, it should have been the first. On the other hand, Mizrachi's task was much easier, because the ground had already been prepared for Zionism by the other parties. Zionist fund-raising was already functioning well, and many people longed to go to Erets Israel. Mizrachi served as a line of defense against the Agudat Yisroel, which promoted an uncompromising anti-Zionist line. And though its numbers were not large, Mizrachi grew into an influential force with which the Zionist parties had to reckon. Its moral influence on otherwise uninvolved religious Jews grew steadily, thanks to its charismatic activists, such as Avrom Zilbiger and Betsalel Cuker, the latter of whom later played such a bitter and tragic role. Other activists were Yechezkl Reich, Chaim Hirshtal, Chaim Gutter (all victims of the Nazis) and, may he enjoy long life, Baruch Hirshberg. These experienced activists devoted all of their energy to the Zionist idea.

One of the finest accomplishments of the Mizrachi was the maintenance of its synagogue on the Plantn. In addition to Zionist activists, the place was frequented by a group of music students devoted to Reb Hirsh Leyb and Reb Leybish Mayzeles' musical works, such as Avrom Zilbiger, Simcha Shenberg, Berl Frankel, and others. Prayers were sung with musical competence and piety. It was sheer pleasure to worship at the Mizrachi synagogue on the Sabbath or on holidays; every comer was fined with wonderful melodies.

Mizrachi was also the first group in Chrzanow to introduce the custom of holding modem Sabbath parties, following the example of Chaim Nachman Bialik's Sabbath parties. It was delightful to observe Jews in their shtreimelech and Sabbath garments discussing contemporary issues between hymns, or listening to the various speeches that were given.

Mizrachi also established a youth group called Hashomer Hadati (the Religious Guards). However, this group's achievements were unimpressive in comparison with those of other Zionist youth organizations, especially Akiba.

We have tried to give a brief account of the most prominent movements in the

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political and social life of Chrzanow. But in the last years before the Holocaust two other parties came as well which, although they played a major role on the global scale, were hardly significant in Chrzanow. These were the Agudat Yisroel and the Revisionists. While they had a fair number of members, they had little influence on public opinion.

We should also mention the Anski Drama Club, which was apolitical, and a source of true Jewish culture and secular knowledge.

It is also worth noting that despite the various differences of opinion among the parties, there were never any serious conflicts or personal rivalries in Chrzanow. On the contrary: the young people of every tendency lived together in friendship. It was truly an ideal to which one should look up.

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LIKE EVERY Polish town, Chrzanow had its Jewish students. The Jewish Enlightenment had been at work in nearby Cracow for quite some time, and the spirit of progress began to seep into neighboring Chrzanow.

While still under Austrian rule, Chrzanow had possessed a gymnasium and in its streets, as in the rest of Austria, the students strode about proudly in their black uniforms and tall hats, with gold stripes on the collars of their jackets.

True, even before the gymnasium was established a few families, such as the Schwartzbarts, the Cyfers, the Riesers, sent their children away from Chrzanow to study. They did not belong to the student circles of Chrzanow.

Later, Jewish students were recruited from among the families who lived on the Plantn. Called the “Plantn people,” or the “better class,” they lived in fine apartments, dressed in “German” (that is, modern) clothing, employed Polish servants, sent their children to secular schools, generally spoke Polish with them, and generally aspired to have well-educated children. The parents were religious, but tolerant. The mothers went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and on holidays just like everyone else, behaved like Jewish women, maintained Jewish customs. The fathers were well-respected merchants, who had even worn shtreimelech at first, which they later exchanged for modern European hats. They sent their sons to Cheder, and saw to it that they studied well. On the Sabbath they examined their children to be sure that they had thoroughly learned the Torah portion of the week. If the children studied diligently, they were rewarded, but when they didn't learn their lessons thoroughly, the Sabbath was ruined. Fiery slaps found their mark more than once. The shouts of the father mixed with the weeping of the children could be heard in the street.

When the children finished the fourth or fifth grade of elementary school, the parents usually decided to send them to the gymnasium. The fathers, however, only agreed on condition that the melamdim would come to the house after school and tutor the children in Jewish subjects. Thus the parents were confident that their children would be respectable in the eyes of both God and society.

At first the Jewish students were excused from gymnasium on the Sabbath, so that they could join their fathers in prayer. Later, when the gymnasium was run by the Polish state, the Jewish students had to come on the Sabbath, but they were not forced to write. Nevertheless they had to wear the student's matsheyavke on their heads, and many parents were embarrassed when their children came to services wearing matsheyavkes. I remember keeping another cap in my pocket and exchanging it for

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the matsheyavke before I entered the synagogue.

I always went to pray in the little synagogue at the Plantn, where my father b/m was the secretary for many years. I can still feel the warmth and hospitality that surrounded me there on winter Sabbath afternoons, before the afternoon prayers. A group of Jews sat around a table, listening to a lesson in Talmud taught by the wellknown scholar Reb Shachne b/m. Around the iron stove sat prominent elders, serious and preoccupied during the week, but today with cheerful, calm smiles on their faces. They chatted of politics, dissecting Itshele's “Political Letter” and Kipnis's “Over a Glass of Tea.” (Itshele and Kipnis were famous commentators at the time.)

While there, I forgot about the meaningless world of the student, forgot about the piercing remarks of the anti-Semitic Polish professors, and the mockery of my Gentile comrades. There one was surrounded by an unforced, free atmosphere, and an intimate Jewish warmth informed by the light but sharp wisdom of the synagogue.

During the years after World War I, the Jewish students numbered around fortyfive or fifty. As assimilation increased, they became distanced from Jewish national sentiment, and empty arrogance reigned among the Jewish students of Chrzanow. They were ashamed to speak Yiddish or to find themselves in the company of Jews; it wasn't befitting for them to go to the speeches organized by the hard-working Zionist organizations. After they finished their homework, they strolled back and forth on the Plantn with nothing to do. They flirted with girls, lay around on the hills or by the river, and sat listening to the concert of frogs, speaking of football or idly joking until late at night.

The efficient Zionist student organization in Cracow tried to make some headway in the provinces and establish cells in the smaller cities. The Polish Jewish newspaper Nowy Dziennik published inspiring articles by our beloved leaders, the unforgettable Dr. Tohn, Dr. Itzchak Schwartzbart, and Dr. Berklamer, who stormed against the indifference and passivity of the provincial intelligentsia, trying to force their way into the closed minds-of our provincial Jewish students.

Certainly some of our students in Chrzanow were sensitive to the ideas of the time. Hershl Brener certainly wasn't one of the “Plantn crowd.” A boy who had been to cheder and had a good mind, he would sneak off into the Libianzer woods early every morning with Marx's Capital under his arm. Izak Daytsher with his offbeat sensibility later became a talented journalist in Warsaw. Yosek Bester from the village of Lipovice, a pitifully poor child of the countryside, later became a popular doctor in town. The socially conscious Chane Dunkelblum, the sisters Wolf and the committed Zionist youth leader Rose Orenstein also belonged to this group, as did Idek Verner, the intelligent Chrzanow youth who became a lawyer. Izak Reffer, who only began to devote his youthful enthusiasm to socialist community work after he completed gymnasium, made his way to New Zealand after finishing the Politechnikum, where he occupied a government position and worked as a scholar. I also want to mention my friend Yosek Bochner, a brilliant mathematician, who later studied in Berlin and went to Moscow, where he worked in an airplane factory. There was also a seminary in which about fifteen Jewish girls studied, several of whom took active part in Zionist organizations. Among the latter was the unforgettable Chava

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Schwartz, the leader of Gordonia in Chrzanow.

This picture of the Jewish students of Chrzanow would not be complete without mentioning a small, dosed group of older scholars, who actually did not study in Chrzanow, but who came home on vacation each year. These included the talented, serious and very intelligent Heniek Rieser (who became a doctor and engineer in Milan), the “Casanova” and prankster Heniek Nadel (in Shanghai), the brothers Yosef and Dovid Bachner, both engineers (in Canada), the rebellious son of the Chrzanow magnate Reb Zisme Kinreich, Boruch (later a doctor of economics in Berlin), and the extraordinary student and joker Yukl Kurtz. They looked down at the younger students, as if they were talking to puppies, to use Yukl Kurtz' words. When they came from “outside” to Chrzanow, they kept to themselves, speaking about theatre and about new books, attracting youngsters and mocking them endlessly.

In the 1930s the distance between the “Plantn Jews” and the “city Jews” began to lessen and the students changed as well, becoming more imbued with sensitivity and involvement with Jewish national problems.

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CHASIDIC JEWS occupied the so-called Synagogue Lawn as far as the slaughterhouse, and from the Polish Bridge lengthwise from the railroad station to the cemetery. Within those boundaries on summer evenings one could see respectable Jews in black overcoats with wide silk belts, long pipes in their mouths and carrying sticks as protection, taking in the fresh air from the surrounding woods, a blessing which Chrzanow enjoyed in plenty.

Usually the evening strolls of our fathers, Chasidim and scholars, were a continuation of the rambles they had just taken through the Talmud and law codes. Their minds were still mulling over the material they had learned in the course of the day. Naturally, when they began to breathe the fresh air, they sometimes permitted themselves to speak about lighter matters, such as pithy sayings or interesting parables attributed to Chasidic rebes.

Young men who studied at the study house delved deeply into the particulars of the material they were working on. Women wearing hair bands and wigs settled modestly on the lawn, chatting about their daily concerns, sometimes throwing in a bit of gossip as well. When a male had to pass, the women withdrew to one side, so that he wouldn't be forced to pass between two females.

In fact the synagogue lawn was quite overgrown, both literally and with the Jewish life of Chrzanow. Before Passover, it was the place to light fires to bum one's leavened goods (Chometz). Here Jewish children from the nearby municipal Hebrew school played games of nuts, and on Lag Baomer the youthful troops fought battles with bow and arrow. On the Ninth of Av pranksters took burrs from the lawn to all of the study houses and Chasidic synagogues, to torment the worshipers during the recitation of the laments for the destruction of the Temple. On Yom Kippur Jews who were beginning to suffer from the odors of the melting candles in the main synagogue and the other houses of worship came out onto the lawn wearing their taleisim to get a bit of fresh air.

Although the lawn belonged to a Gentile, the Jews considered it their own. Despite the owner's protests, they felt as if they were in their own father's vineyard.

For younger people seeking pleasure, there were the Plantn (Alea Henryka) and the suspension bridge near the railroad station. There the atmosphere was freer and the mood lighter, as the spiritual realm gave way to the material. Young men permitted themselves a glance at young ladies, and sometimes even greeted them, nodding

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their heads awkwardly and blushing as they did so. Once upon a time, speaking to a girl was not taken lightly in Chrzanow. It took both courage and a bit of audacity. People took into consideration those who might be watching, and even more so the girls themselves, who might go bearing tales later on. In the earlier years, the Plantn served as a sort of passageway to the suspension bridge. As a rule Chasidic mothers and fathers did not permit their grown children to go out strolling unaccompanied by those older and more experienced. But the young people always found excuses, saying that they had to meet someone at the railroad station, or see someone off. However, the real goal was the suspension bridge. In addition to students from the study house, young people of every sort, from every class and estate, boys as well as girls, gathered there. Of course, the boys and girls were in separate groups.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, when the socialist and nationalist youth organizations were established, the Plantn changed radically. The young people began reading fiction, both good and bad. They became bolder, and a short time later both accidental and arranged rendezvous began to take place, as is the modern custom. The Plantn and the free air also influenced the spirits of the youth.

For the modern youth, aspiring to freedom, these areas had become too narrow, too stuffy. They set off for the forest nearest to the city, about one kilometer away from the Jewish cemetery. Until 1918, the forest was the ideal spot for the more mature Jewish youth. Here they weren't afraid of their strict mothers and fathers. They were also safe from the all-seeing eyes of God's spies and everyday gossips, who were always seeking new material.

In the forest the youth passed their time free and unconstrained, but their behavior was cultured and respectable. “Love affairs,” Platonic and romantic, were carried out on an elevated level. Intelligent, informed discussions were held on general as well as Jewish topics, about the newest creations of that shining period in Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, and German literature. If trees could speak, they would have much to relate about the young people of Chrzanow. Achad HaAm and Max Nordau, Peretz and Nietzsche, Bialik and Mickiewicz were read in their original languages.

With the collapse of Austria everything in the forest changed for the worse. A locomotive factory was established and a workers' dormitory was built in the forest. The local Poles began to harass the young Jews in various ways, eventually resorting to physical attacks and stone throwing. This embittered the Jewish youth, filling them with hatred for the grandchildren of Kosciuszko and Mickiewicz.

These frequent aggressions led the Jewish youth to seek another place to relax. Thus they spent the last several years before the catastrophe at the piaski (sands).

This was a pretty spot near the river Hechlo, which had played a part in the lives of

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the Jews of Chrzanow for many years. Thousands of Chrzanow Jews went to the river to perform the tashlich ceremony on Rosh Hashanah. Willow branches for Sukkoth came from the banks of the river. Jewish housewives waited by the river for peasant women to come on market days, so that they could get a bargain on a chicken for Sabbath or for the kapore ceremony before Yom Kippur. A number of Jews lived at the Piaski. A Jewish tannery was located there, and people felt more secure there than in the forest. The Chrzanow youth spread their wings, finding a sandy spot and bathing just as if they were at an elegant beach.

But the old magic of the forest was missing. The very fact that the forest had to be surrendered to newcomers discouraged the youth. To spite their enemies, the young men and women of Chrzanow refused to give up entirely. Although they were originally forced to the Piaski, they made it their own. Herded about, first by the Poles and then into the ghetto by the Germans, the young people gathered at the Piaski, and in summer evenings the sound of Yiddish and Hebrew songs could be heard. They sang from the heart, with hopes for a better future.

The Piaski remained the only place for strolling outdoors during the German occupation. Then its cheerful atmosphere faded away altogether, as some of the young people were already in forced work camps. Only occasionally did individuals go there, along with small groups of “politicians,” looking forward to some news of the outside world. Now the secret may be revealed: the town's “Jewish radio” was located at the Piaski. It was the source of illegal news during Hitler's war- news that helped to keep hope of redemption alive.

In Chrzanow nicknames were used as if they were entirely natural. According to older Jews from Chrzanow, the nicknames began because once upon a time, when the railroad station was still at the old Station Street, young people would wait for the arrival of every new bridegroom from out of town, and express their opinion of him. Of course there were always jokers among them, and after the “evaluation” of the new member of the community, they would assign him an appropriate nickname. to a certain extent these nicknames were individually earned-some referred to one's occupation; others expressed physical qualities, while still others had to do with the owner's character.

Today it is hard to give an accurate philological account of these nicknames, even though in its time each one was appropriate. Following are a few examples:

Bobe (Grandmother): He had no beard, or it was barely visible.

Budke (Booth): His store consisted of a stall of boards nailed together.

Baal-Shem A (Saint): Jew who dealt in old clothes and rags; quite learned, could resolve difficult points of observance, and because of his modest bearing he was called a saint.

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Bas (Bass): A musician who played this instrument.

Cap (Male Goat): A nickname for someone who didn't understand much ... a dope.

Zhlob: A glutton; a slob.

Ciucmak: Almost an idiot; schlemiel.

Ciol: Thick-headed, slow to comprehend.

Jajcorz (from Polish for egg): An egg dealer.

Loksh (Noodle): Tall and thin. Since the first “Loksh” was named Shiye, others named Shiye were also called Loksh.

Mocher-Litke: Mentioned in Chrzanow folklore.

Naser (The Wet One): He had been rescued from drowning in the river.

Sroydali: A Jew who had a textile goods store in the market; whenever a Gentile customer didn't want to pay the stated price, this was his response. It's a fact that 90% of the Jews of Chrzanow didn't know his real name, and called him by this nickname.

Tsap (Pourer): Son of an innkeeper, whose father often ordered him to draw beer from a barrel.

Kelbl (Calp): There were two brothers, and since one of them was called Cow, the younger was called Calf .

Koze (Goat): Someone who was lively, half wild.

Knaytsh (Bend): A tavernkeeper who served beer on credit on the Sabbath, since he wouldn't take any money. He had a book containing the names of his steady customers, and in order to keep track of their tab, he would bend over the sheet with the appropriate customer's name. Every time he poured a glass of beer, he told his daughter, “Mirl! Bend!”

Kozemashin: An enterprising Jew. He was the first to bring a booth with a stove to Chrzanow, and it looked a bit like a car. He roasted potatoes and chestnuts, drew apple wine with seltzer from a copper jug, and most impressive, had a sort of roulette game- a wheel with a wooden stork in the middle. One could win an entire string of figs, or a round coconut. The whole business was called the Kozemashin. Even the owner's children and grandchildren were called Kozemashinen.

Ribbentrop: This insulting nickname belonged to a Jew named Ruven, whose nose always dripped. People would say: “Ruven s'tropt (your nose is running).” That evolved into Ribbentrop, later the name of Hitler's foreign minister.

Shvitser (Sweater): A boastful character who was actually a wind bag.

In addition to all of these, there were others which were faintly derogatory, and which designated people by the locales they had come from, such as:

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Cracow nibbler; Oswiecim doltnfreser; Tshebiner Korach.

Ksheshovitser/Sodom: The people from this town were considered immoral.

Chrzanow Tsaban: “Purebred,” born Chrzanowites.

Polish Pig: An epithet for people from Congress Poland.

Galician Disaster: Those who stemmed from Central or Eastern Galicia.

A large number of Jews weren't called by their last names, but rather by their father's or grandfather's names, such as: Yosl Moyshe Reb Simen's, Shloyme Moyshe the Rabbi's, Itshele Reb Yankev Ruven's, Moyshe Avrom Heshl's, Yankele Aba's, Faygele Melech's, Mendl Cini's, and so forth.

Names deriving from physical characteristics included: Big Aron, Tall Motl, Tall Dovid, Little Shmuelke, Fat Pinkhas, Skinny Leyb, White Zelig, Red Shmuel, Black Dovid, Green Gershon, Pink Moyshe.

Names indicating where the individual came from were Reb Shloyme Kotzker, Miriam from Mentkov, Reb Meir Tshebiner, the teacher from Cracow, the teacher from Dombrowa, the teacher from Warsaw, Polish Mendl, and so forth.

All of these nicknames were used on a daily basis, to the extent that someone from out of town with the address and last name of the person he or she was looking for had a hard time finding where to go. A number of comical incidents also arose because a stranger couldn't properly pronounce a certain nickname. Thus, trying to indicate who he was looking for, he instead invented a new nickname ... and it stuck.

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WITH THE death of millions of Polish Jews, a vast treasure of Jewish folklore, the product of generations of creativity, was lost as well. Every province, city, and town had its own special sayings, parables, tales, jokes and the like. Even if many of these sayings had the same moral, they were repeated in different versions in various locations, always fitting the everyday existence of the Jews who used them.

Entire volumes could be filled with the collected folklore which was passed among Jews, in their study houses, Chasidic synagogues, in the house and in the street. Even the unprintable was valuable for its sharp wit, which is so characteristic of our Eastern Jews.

Our present task is a limited one, our capacities minimal. We have collected the materials for this sample of Chrzanow folklore in haste, to save this tiny remnant from oblivion, and to serve as an example. Perhaps other Jews from Chrzanow will undertake the rewarding task of collecting and recording what we have neglected, because our memory has grown weak as a result of the concentration camp and other troubles. In fact, I have not limited myself to that which has an immediate connection to Chrzanow; rather, I have tried to encompass the folklore that was characteristic of Chrzanow Jews.

Generally this expression is used to describe someone whose manner is extremely religious, who seems to consider himself a fine Jew, but who does not give to charity. Rabbi Shloymele explained the expression thus: In the winter, when it is cold, one can warm oneself in two ways. One can stay near the stove, or wrap oneself in a fur. The first way, someone else can benefit as well, but a fur benefits only the one who wears it.

Fat Moyshe Aron supported himself with money which he received from his children in Cracow every month. It so happened that one month the money didn't arrive on time, so Moyshe Aron sent a telegram to his children: “Your father is dead.” When the children arrived by train they went straight to the cemetery and asked the gravedigger when the funeral was going to take place. The gravedigger laughed out loud and told them that he had just seen Moyshe Aron joking around at the market place. When they met their father, the children asked why he had tricked

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them. “The telegram I sent you,” their father responded, “was the whole truth-because without money I'm dead.”

German Jewish manufacturers from Vienna who had business with merchants in Chrzanow used to come to our city. One of these German Jews observed his father's yortsayt during his visit to Chrzanow. He wanted to make sure that there would be a minyan the first thing in the morning, and he gave the shames two gulden to make sure of it. The German Jew arrived punctually, like a German, but the ten Jews weren't there yet. The shames explained to the German Jew, “The Jews have to prepare themselves for prayer.”

“What do you mean, 'prepare'?” asked the German.

The shames explained to him that before they pray, pious Jews drink tea, then tbey smoke their pipes, they go to the bathroom, and then to the mikvah. And that's what preparing means. The German Jew listened to everything patiently, and then responded in a strict tone: “When I come back next year, I'll give you five gulden. In exchange I want ten Jews, fully finished and ready for delivery!”

Two Dead Men

Rabbi Naftoli used to say jokingly that he wasn't afraid of the dead, because he always had two dead men right next to him: Yukl Dodek was always dead hungry, and Tall Yoske was always dead thirsty.

Avrom Meir, the shames in the study house, who couldn't get rid of the young pranksters who used to disrupt his work-throwing snowballs while he lit the Chanukah candles, and other practical jokes- used to shout angrily, “You don't see a circumcision for love or money, how come there are so many bastards here...

Simcha Stapler used to say that he had yortsayt every day, because every day his father was dying of hunger.

The well-known joker Berl Kender used to say that the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt was more like an expulsion. The Master of the Universe should have done just the opposite-he should have driven out the Egyptians and left the Jews in their country. He should have sent the Egyptians into the desert for forty years, honored them with exile in Babylonia, exile throughout the Roman Empire, and wanderings down to the present day. We Jews would have it just fine, if we had stayed in Egypt until the present day!

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A Cantor Is a Fool

Reb Hirsh Leyb Bakon, the cantor at the municipal synagogue in Chrzanow, used to comment on the saying, “a cantor is a fool,” that it didn't necessarily mean that every fool can be a cantor.

He also used to say: The fool is always there at the stand with the man who leads the services. When he wraps himself up in a talit to lead the prayers, he includes the fool. Sadly, not everyone leaves the fool behind when he's finished.

Regarding a coarse individual who was audacious but a pentak (miser), people said (in Polish):

Pieniedzy nie daja
Toyre nie znaja
Ale chutspe maja

Reb Yekheskl Shmuel Blumner b/m (Pipek), a wise and insightful Jew of the older generation, used to say jokingly: The miracle on Mount Moriah didn't benefit our Father Isaac, but rather us, his grandchildren. The daily and holiday prayerbooks are full of the fact that all Abraham wanted to do was slaughter him. Can you imagine if, God forbid, he had actually cut? We'd doubtless need a cartload of daily and holiday prayerbooks to take to the synagogue!

Yudl Kurtz (Shvinke) used to boast:

“Among Chasidim-I'm a Chasid.
Among modem Jews-I'm modern.
But among women-I'm a man.”

When you go to a rebe you should hand him an empty sheet of paper. Why? Because if the rebe really knows what's going on in your mind, then he'll know what you need from him. And if not, you're wasting your time...

The son of a minor Chasidic rabbi filled his head with ideas from secular books, and his father came to consider him an apostate. The father decided that the only explanation was that the spirit of a dead person had entered into his son's body. The rabbi assembled a minyan of Jews, ordered candles to be fit, and summoned his son, so that he could exorcize the evil spirit. When the shofar was blown he shouted three times, following the custom: “Dibbuk! Dibbuk! Leave my son!”

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To that the “ dibbuk” -namely his son-responded: “Nonsense! Nonsense! Leave my father!”

A coachman once asked the popular and always lively Chrzanow Zionist activist Menashe Fishler m/b/a: “Tell me, what's the difference between the Bobover Rebe, who has a large number of Chasidirn, and other rebes whose Chasidim can be counted on your fingers? The others are just as fine Jews as the Bobover, aren't they?”

Menashe explained it to him: “It's just like the difference between Smiechowski's soap (a famous firm in Cracow, which demanded high prices), and Gasner's soap (a small factory in Chrzanow, which belonged to Menashe's uncle). Both products are of the same quality, but only one has the big “Name.”

Once upon a time two respectable Jewish merchants of Chrzanow-their names are known to those who know the town-traveled to Vienna on a buying trip. Arriving there late in the evening, they began to say evening prayers in their hotel rooms. One of them finished the Amida first, rapidly said Aleinu, and started out of the room. The second, not wanting to interrupt himself in the middle of the Amida, winked at him and asked, “Nu akh?” (“Where are you going?”) The first answered that he was looking for someone to go get into a little trouble with. . . And the one replied, “ Nu akh! Shtayim! “ (Make it two.)

Mendl Ashkenazi m/b/a, a popular man who loved a good joke, once met an elderly Jewish stranger at the railroad station. He offered his hand, pronounced a hearty “Sholem-aleikhem!” and wished him mazel tov. The stranger stood in astonishment and stared at him: Mazel tov-what for? “Listen,” Mendl said, “today's the first time I've seen you since your wedding!”

During the elections to the Austrian parliament in 1911, the Polish Socialist Party deputy, Dr. Marek, came to Chrzanow from Cracow. After his speech in the courtyard of Berish Prister's house, which was well received, he drove away in his automobile which emitted a strong smell of gasoline. At that a supporter of an opposing candidate (Reb Yisroel Shimen Grubner, b/m) called out to the crowd, “You see? Dr. Marek drives away in comfort, and he leaves the stink for the city. . .

Years ago a Jew arrived in Vienna, and felt the need to urinate while in a strange neighborhood. There was no restroom handy, and he was afraid that he would get into trouble if he relieved himself on the street. He thought for a while and then went

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to a good doctor, claiming that he was having a problem urinating. The doctor gave him a bottle, and he relieved himself... The doctor was amazed, but the Jew explained to him: “You see, Doctor-when a pot is available I have no problem!”

The former municipal doctor of Chrzanow, Dr. Klein (who served before Dr. Hochbaum), always said that he denied all the principles of the Jewish faith, except for the principle of resurrection of the dead. Jews who suffer bitterly all week long, don't eat when they should or as much as they want to, nevertheless when the Sabbath afternoon comes, make kiddush on an empty stomach over 96-proof liquor and a cracker, then they eat a portion of fat carp, fat galerete, cholent with fatty kishka (derma), kugel dripping with chicken fat and lots of heavy dessert and then, their stomachs stuffed to the maximum, they take a mid-day snooze. And if these Jews are able to get up again, it's truly resurrection of the dead.

During the war years from 1914-1918 a certain number of young men pretended to be insane in order to get out of military service. One of these young men, actually nuts, had been certified insane by the military doctor. He was asked how he had done it. “You have to be a little bit crazy to begin with,” came the answer, “and for the rest, you rely on God.”

In Trzebinia near Chrzanow lived a well-known Jew named Aba Zalke. He loved to celebrate at Chasidic weddings, but he knew very little of worldly affairs. Once he received a wedding invitation from an acquaintance of his, which mentioned that a separate cloakroom would be prepared at the wedding. When he arrived at the wedding Aba Zalke whispered to the father-in-law, “Do me a favor. When the food is served, give me a large portion of cloakroom, because I've never had the chance to eat it before.”

A Jew doesn't eat an orange unless the orange is spoiled (and therefore cheap), otherwise the Jew is spoiled (i.e., sick).

“Tea and Psalms never hurt anyone.”

There are never too many children nor too many glasses.

Do you want to arrive quickly? Then you should proceed slowly and carefully.

Until World War I the Jews of Chrzanow enjoyed a large majority on the town council, and the meetings were conducted in a very Jewish manner. The people elected to the town council at the time weren't necessarily those best qualified, but rather the rich men who enjoyed power on account of their money. Among them was Reb

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Shmuel Bromberger (or Reb Shmuel Mokh), who, although he was wealthy, knew little about the affairs of the city. At that time the main spokesman was the rich man from the Kamienica, Reb Eli Rauchwerger. Reb Shmuel slept soundly through the debate on a certain matter... When he was awakened for the vote, he rubbed his eyes and responded sleepily, “I vote the same as Reb Eli.”

Reb Baybi Seifman, a prominent Jew in Chrzanow, the leader of the Radomsker Chasidim several decades ago, asked why the rabbi was still being paid a salary, since he received separate payment for every deed he performed, plus holiday money, presents on Purim, and Chanukah gelt. He was always given an etrog by one of the wealthier citizens on Sukkoth; on Passover he was a partner in the selling of flour, and on the Sabbath he was given a kugel, in addition to the salary he received along with the cantor and the shames. The answer he offered was that the rabbi needed a salary so that at least he could put on his phylacteries without requiring payment...

There was a self-assured and demanding woman in town, who had a learned and well-mannered son. The neighbors wore out their feet looking for a proper match for the son. But no matter how much was offered as a dowry, it was never enough for the mother. Once a marriage broker said to her, “Tell me, Kayle dear, what and how much do you really want for your son?” She gave him a very businesslike answer: “If you don't bring me a well-mannered and pretty girl with a dowry of five thousand dollars-let my goods rot in my warehouse!”

Berish Frister, a well-known horse trader, wasn't an especially pious or observant Jew. When he traveled to horse fairs, his wife always packed into his suitcase his talis and phylacteries, along with provisions: a challah and a stomach pouch filled with meat. Once his wife decided to find out whether her husband actually prayed when he traveled, and she packed the stomach into the tefilin bag. When he returned from his journey on Friday, her husband complained that she hadn't given him any stomach as she usually did. “It's because you didn't pray,” his wife answered, taking the stomach out of his tefilin bag.

The former Polish finance minister Michalski was the tax inspector in Chrzanow under the Austrians. Once the well-known slaughterer, Reb Shloyme Lipe, was summoned to see the tax inspector about his income. Reb Shloyme Lipe, who knew no Polish, asked Michalski to permit him to speak German, and Michalski agreed. After the meeting, Michalski, who knew Yiddish well, said to him: “If I had known that you speak Yiddish so well, I wouldn't have allowed you to speak German under

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any circumstances. .

Reb Leybish Wiener, a well-known textile merchant from Chrzanow, used to tell his wife when he was young, before he became wealthy:

“You know, Chana, I have to go to the rabbi.” Later, when he had some money, he said, “ Chana, I have to go away, because the rabbi wants to see me. “ Later, when he built his own house and was quite comfortable, he said to his wife, “Chana, the rabbi always sends messengers to fetch me. But I'm not going to him this time; he can take the trouble to come see me for once.”

An anti-Semitic elementary school teacher once asked her female students, “Why does it rain so often on Saturday?”

The Christian children answered, “Because Saturday is a Jewish holiday!”

“No,” spoke up a Jewish girl named Chanele Halbershtam (who happened to be a niece of Ahad HaAm), “'it rains on Saturday so the streets will be muddy on Sunday!”

Reb Yakov Ruben, a typical Chasidic character, was a well-known Sanzer Chasid in Chrzanow. When he went to see Reb Chaim in Sanz, his wife asked him to mention to the rabbi that he was having problems earning a living. On his way back, his wife asked him, “Well? Did you mention money to the rebe?”

“No!” was Reb Yakov Ruben's response. “'When I reach Sanz, I never remember anything as prosaic as money. I only remember it when I get back home.”

In Trzebinia near Chrzanow, the synagogue and the study house were in the middle of the market place. In the summer, when the windows were open, the merchants and customers used to say the prayers kedushe and borchu together with the congregations. A Jewish woman was in the middle of making a deal for a rooster while saying the kedushe, and lifted her heels at the words, “Holy, holy, holy.” The saleswoman said to her, “You can jump up and down all night, I'm not going to give you the rooster for a penny cheaper,!”

The well-known Chrzanow marriage broker, Reb Chaim Gross, was summoned to the tax department regarding the taxes he paid on his fees for arranging marriages. Reb Chaim said to the official: “Ill pay you as much as you demand, on condition that you forbid the boys and girls to meet at the Plantn because since the Plantn became popular, I have no more customers, neither boys nor girls...

A Jewish woman went to a rebe with a request. She asked the rebe's secretary to

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write on the note that she had a son with three failings: first, he plays the violin; second, he sings very beautifully; third and worst, he writes verse. The rebe pushed his spectacles up onto his forehead and looked at the woman as if she were mocking him. “These are three of the finest virtues a woman could expect from a son.”

“Yes,” the woman said, “he plays the fiddle, and some people realize he's a fool. It's worse when he sings, because then people in the synagogue realize he's a fool. But the worst is his writing-then the entire world knows he is a fool..

The rabbi of Jaworzno, Reb Vove Rozenblum. b/m, had a son who lived far away and wasn't especially pious. The son sent the father money and gifts on several occasions. Reb Vove didn't want to accept them, because he wasn't sure the money had been earned in the spirit of the Torah. One time the rabbi received a large sum of money from his son, along with a letter saying that if he returned the money as usual, then just to spite him the son would commit a sin the likes of which aren't dreamed of by Jews or by Gentiles. The rabbi didn't want to be responsible for such a dreadful sin, so he accepted the money on condition that the son tell him what sin he intended to commit. His son responded, “I would have put on tefilin on the Sabbath. . . “

Reb Leyb Ziser of Cracow (owner of the large house at # 13 Kuzmark), was known for his intelligence, wealth, and impressive appearance. He had many Jewish virtues, but only one major failing. He was not well versed in traditional literature...
Once when he was in the city of Pressburg-at that time one of the greatest centers of Torah-he went to the yeshiva of the Chasam. Sofer to wait until it was time to board his train. Just then two students of the yeshiva were debating a certain fine point, and since they couldn't come to an agreement, they decided to ask Reb Leyb for the proper interpretation. Reb Leyb Ziser, seeing that he was stuck, said to the boys: “Listen, children!

You could, heaven forbid, have embarrassed a Jew with your question, because a Jew like myself, despite the beautiful beard, could never theless be an ignoramus. If that happened, you would lose your share in the world to come. I have the solution on the tip of my tongue, but to punish you for being so careless, I'm not going to tell you what it is. . .

It is well known that the last rabbis of Chrzanow, with the exception of Reb Yoysef Elimelech b/m, were not especially good speakers.

The son of Rabbi Naftoli, the last rabbi of Chrzanow Reb Mendl, delivered a eulogy for the deceased Reb Shmuel Grajower. As people know, Reb Shmuel's children were not quite as pious as their father had been.

Trying to express the wish that Reb Shmuel's children should be loyal to Judaism and follow the same lifestyle as their father, the rabbi finished his eulogy by saying

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that “Reb Shmuel's children should go the way their father went.”

It is possible to acquire the World to Come in a single hour. This saying applies to Reb Velvele Loyber, m/b/a, a simple Jew without any pretensions, a wholesome man in the fullest sense of the word. The following story took place once upon a time.

Since he knew that Reb Velvele was a responsible and honest person, the wellknown money changer Reb Leybtshe Klein gave him several hundred dollars to take from Cracow to Chrzanow, as a favor. Reb Leybtshe didn't offer him a commission. When Reb Velvele arrived in Chrzanow, he realized that $200 was missing. After a long investigation, the rabbi ruled that Reb Velvele would have to swear that he hadn't taken the money. But Reb Velvele refused, saying that he had never sworn in his fife, and he wasn't about to start. He would sooner sell his house and pay back the money he had lost. But just as he was about to sell his only possession, his house, a miracle occurred. The Jew who had found the missing money appeared. Thus Reb Velvele, whom people had begun to suspect of foul play, went away with his name cleared and enjoyed everyone's respect forever after.

Yidl Kurts was once found sitting at home on Rosh Hashanah, while all the Jews were on their way to the town river to say Tashlich. When asked why he wasn't going to cast his sins into the river, he answered: “I can't let myself get away with the same thing that Reb Itshele Yakov-Ruven's or Reb Yenkele Aba's do. Their sins consist of such trivialities as making a mistake in a single word while saying grace after eating on the Sabbath. Or someone else ate beans for lunch, passed wind while saying his afternoon prayers, and couldn't wash his hands immediately... Sins like these can be easily cast into the river, but my sins cost me a lot of money, and it would truly be an even greater sin to simply cast them into the water!”

When the Germans first came to Chrzanow they used Jews as translators. The Jewish population felt even more hatred toward the Poles than toward the Germans, because the Jews expected evil from the Germans, and were psychically ready for it, but the Poles were noted for their provocations and treachery. Our hearts bled watching the Poles gleefully rubbing their hands as they witnessed our tragedy. Just about that time the Germans arrested for some trivial transgression a Pole who was known for his hostility toward Jews. The German, being unable to communicate with him, called in Isser Lapke (who was well known as a joker in town) to translate.

Pole: “I didn't know it was forbidden.”
Policeman: “What's he saying?”
Translator: “He said that he's in his own home and can do whatever he wants.”
Policeman: “Slap the bum and knock out a tooth.”
Pole: “Why do I deserve to be hit?

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Policeman: “What did he say this time?”
Translator: “He said that when you're defeated, he's going to take revenge on you.”
Policeman: “Tear that bum limb from limb and turn him into chopped meat.”
Policeman to translator: “Tell that Polish pig that if he were a Jew Id shoot him on the spot, and I'm going to give you a cigarette for your good translation!”

Older Jews from Chrzanow no doubt remember what used to happen in the winter nights with the draftees who had been called up for Austrian -military service. In order to avoid service, they would torture themselves and stay up all night so that they would be released from the spring exercises, which were held around Passover time. In order to stay awake, they would pull various pranks which made everyone laugh. The following stories tell of some of these pranks.

A rich man in town, Reb Leyb Gross, once refused to give a substantial sum for a certain charitable purpose, saying that he was short of money because he was building a new house. At that time the leader of the draftees was the popular Chrzanow joker Moyshe Mizel who undertook to force the rich man to come up with the sum.

Moyshe Mizel assembled all the draftees, and one night, under his command, they removed the bricks that had been stored for the new house and used them to build a path to the cemetery. The next day the rich man came up with the sum in question, promising to be good and pious forever.

One beautiful winter morning the men of Chrzanow woke up to a city they could hardly recognize. The butcher's sign hung on the doctor's house, the druggist's sign hung at the shoemaker's, and so forth. At first the women said that this was the work of “demons,” may we be preserved, but later the true explanation came to light:

Since the draftees, who stayed up all night, generally gathered in the municipal study house and caused damage there, the officers decided to close the study house at night, and to forbid the draftees from entering. But the draftees immediately decided to take revenge in a way that would make the city remember them. They exchanged the signs on all the stores in town, and it caused such confusion that the citizens went to the officers and begged them to let the draftees back into the study hall.

Years ago there was a Jew in Chrzanow named Avremele Bentsher who was half

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insane and thoroughly witless. If a candle sputtered or leaned on Yom Kippur night, Avremele Bentsher immediately arrived with a Gentile who would set it right. The poles for the chupah for weddings, the chair for Elijah The Prophet, for circumcisions, all were brought by Avremele Bentsher. At funerals as well, nothing began without Avremele Bentsher.

As often happened, an epidemic broke out in town. At the turn of this century, epidemics weren't recognized as medical emergencies; rather, they were blamed on the local sinners. Investigations were made, and eventually it would be discovered that the young couples weren't careful enough... Their beds weren't far enough apart; or many young wives weren't careful enough with their wigs, leaving some of         their own hair showing, may we be preserved! Such sins demanded a sacrificial atonement. The usual practice at the time was to atone by arranging a wedding between a male and a female orphan at the cemetery. But the town had a problem: where would they get a pair of orphans? And there was an additional condition-they had to be from among the poor.

The problem wasn't hard at all for the joker Moyshe Mizel. He immediately came up with a way to kill two birds with one stone-fulfill the commandment of arranging weddings, and also ridding the town of the epidemic.

As you've no doubt guessed, the groom was none other than our Avremele Bentsher. Since he was over sixty years old by then, of course both of his parents had died.

A similar orphan “girl” was found. The younger generation in Chrzanow knew         her as Hindzhe, who had carried large packs of clothing on her back for the past several years, unwilling to part with them for a single minute. In her youth she had been quite beautiful, but at the same time, as we used to say in Chrzanow, “a bit robbed.”

Moyshe Mizel played the part of the father-in-law, and the draftees were the other “in-laws” and guests. The wedding was performed at the cemetery on a Saturday night. The things that went on there may be left to your imagination. Not only the living enjoyed themselves, but also the dead in their graves doubled over with laughter. A generous wedding supper was served.
Everyone danced and sang until well into the morning, and the draftees went home as drunk as Lot.

And the epidemic was averted.

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When we describe our city, we don't need to be ruled by the sentiments that every Jew feels for the place where he or she was born and raised. When we look back, we can free ourselves of subjective favoritism and still claim openly that Chrzanow deserves a prominent place in the history of Jewish communities in Poland. It is no exaggeration to say that Chrzanow was distinct from many other Jewish cities in Poland, including larger ones, not only because a rich, vital, creative Jewish life pulsated in Chrzanow, but also because the city's external appearance bore a distinctively Jewish stamp.

Chrzanow had a substantial Jewish majority. (For a long time it had a Jewish mayor.) In order to minimize the power of the Jewish population, the Gentile city government incorporated the surrounding villages into the municipality. To describe the external Jewish appearance of the city, we will give space to our greatest enemy, the Hitlerite press.

In 1945, 1 came into possession of an article from the Ostdeutscher Morgenpost dated March 17, 1942, under the headline “The City of Krenau” (Chrzanow). During the disinfection in Buchenwald, it was taken from me, but I memorized several verses:

Leaving the Old Reich and-heading in the direction of the General Government District of Cracow, we encountered for the first time a city which, owing to its unmistakably Jewish landscape, made an especially negative impression on us. The place is swarming with characters who are all too easily recognizable in their bearing and behavior. Here, until quite recently, the Jews ruled the entire city, including its trade and industry. Today, however, they have been isolated from their center, and one day they will entirely disappear from the city.

We see that even during the war, when the Jews in Chrzanow were forced to restrict their action and to observe the saying “any attention of the princess is a danger” even then the obvious Jewish character of the city was all too clear to the Nazi reporter. We believe that the huge enmity expressed in the cited sentences best describe Jewish Chrzanow. And we must add that its character was dominated by the religious and Chasidic segment of the population. We have to remember how many people flocked to the ritual meals conducted in Chrzanow by Chasidic rebes

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from the entire surrounding region, the generosity with which their receptions and farewells were prepared, events at which singing and dancing were taken outside into the streets. Months later Gentiles could still recall the melody of the Chasidic song “The voice of joy and salvation,” singing it like a popular song. Yes, Judaism as a part of daily life in Chrzanow was not only seen, but also heard. The sound of the Torah echoed in the streets, coming out of the various Chasidic studyhouses in the center of the city, as well as the main synagogue and Talmud Torah.

According to the rabbis of the Talmud, “every place which does not have ten men free to study full time is not a city”; in Chrzanow their number reached dozens and hundreds. Most were scholars who had achieved a reputation throughout the world for their broad and deep knowledge, as well as their own compositions. The Chasidic sector, which influenced customary clothing in the city, was only a fragment of the overall Jewish cultural life. The external view was only a reflection of deep and rich Jewish content.

Chrzanow was shaped by the activity of Jewish organizations of all descriptions. Not only did Chrzanow have a vital Jewish middle class, but also a substantial Jewish wealthy class and a strong, organized Jewish artisan class. We had welldeveloped Zionist and socialist parties. The remarkable thing was that in Chrzanow, unlike most other Jewish communities, all of the parties lived together not only in peace, but even in a certain harmony.

Sabbath in Chrzanow deserves particular attention. Sabbath was entirely Jewish. The image described in Bialik's poem “The Sabbath Queen” was fully realized in our city. Sabbath in Chrzanow revealed the essence of Judaism in all its aspects. Not only the calm and the absence of commerce made an impression, but also the stream of Jews with shtreimelech and long coats going to and from services added life and Jewish charm. To go walking on the Plantn in a shtreimel and a Sabbath coat was entirely normal, as it was for a Jew wearing a shtreimel to take his horse to water on the Sabbath.

Despite the distinctiveness of Jewish life in Chrzanow, anti-Semitism was negligible. On the contrary: the strength of the Jewish community made it a force to be reckoned with by outsiders. It is worth mentioning that the Gentile town council specified that at public meetings and celebrations the rabbi or Jewish representative was to make his address in Yiddish. (We remember what people said during the tenure of the Polish mayor named Gdula. When the rabbi took his place to deliver a speech, it was “Torah and greatness [gdula] [joy in Yiddish] in one place.”) We were not only a qualitative but also a quantitative force in Chrzanow. We had our own potential force, which we fortunately never had to use.

Now, when that entire vital Jewish city has been transformed into a cemetery full of martyrs, now we are united only by our memories of that glorious past. These aren't memoirs. They are living symbols of Jewish eternity, which are connected to our city. The deep national consciousness, the feeling for love and justice which was etched into our hearts and minds, now leads us toward a better future. Our rich heritage will enable us to forge our future and continue to spin the thread of Jewish

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eternity. Therefore, we proudly look back at our former Jewish life, and although our hearts bleed on account of our colossal loss, nevertheless we cry out with all the feelings we can summon: “How goodly are thy tents, 0 Chrzanow!”

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