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There were a few Agudah sympathizers, mostly from among the chassidim. There didn't undertake any activity, however. Similarly, there was never any organized Poalei Mizrachi party [labor offshoot of the Mizrachi party]. The few people who were supporters did work together with the Mizrachi, and supported the Revisionists and Betar.

[Photo:] The Revisionist Youth Group, Brit Trumpeldor/Betar.

Socialist Parties

        There was an organized group of the Bund [Yiddishists] in Drohitchin, but it was unnoticed among all the activity of the Zionist parties. The Drohitchin branch of the Bund wasn't as aggressive as branches in other towns. First, because there were no factory workers in Drohitchin, no wage disputes or strikes, or professional unions to provide membership for the Bund. Second, most of the Bund leaders in Drohitchin worked in home workshops and were owners of craft workshops and people who attended synagogue and people who believed in "sinful" Zionism. Drohitchin was therefore not a suitable for the Bund's political activity, and the Bund had to limit itself to cultural activities.

        There were also some communists in Drohitchin. How likely was it for there to be communists in Poland? Drohitchin was no different than other cities and towns, but since the Communist Party was illegal in Poland, it wasn't possible to know the actual number of communists in town, but the fact is that the communists were involved in underground activity. I remember once that on a Sabbath the Polish police raided the house of the Mezeritch tailor, looking for communist literature. They even tore down pictures off the wall, but they didn't find anything. Later it was discovered that his son had fled to Russia.

        Generally speaking, the Polish authorities took harsh measures against the communists. One of the famous cases was that of the revolt of some villages in Polesia against high taxes. The police suspected that the communists were somehow involved. The raided the villages, seized grain from wagons and threw it out onto the street, mixing it with sand and straw. This was to teach all the peasants in the villages the punishment for the sins of a few communists. Naturally, the press didn't write a word about this, but people talked extensively about the revolt of the peasants against the Poles.

[Photo:] First Row: M. Kalenkevich, Y. Mishovsky, L. Lewak, B. Milner, K. Oberman, S. Slonimsky, S. Milner, M. Kalenkevich, S. Beich.

Library and Cinema

         There was also a well-stocked library that owned hundreds of books

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covering all Jewish classics. I remember a long time ago the administrators of the library first installed a radio without a loudspeaker in the library, and everyone rushed over in amazement to look at the magical device. The administration of the library created a business with the "magical device," and charged a fee of 10 groshen for a listening session. You put on the earphones and were able to listen in for a few minutes to the magical device's spirit talking over the wire.

        Mention should also be made of the amateur theater group that occasionally gave performances on behalf of charitable causes. Drohitchin was virtually the only small town with a cinema; it showed a few pictures and attracted people from all over the area.

The People's Bank and Charity Fund

         The Charity Fund and the Cooperative Fund were the community economic institutions that provided material assistance for all Jews in town and in the surrounding area. A third institution was the People's Bank. Any individual could receive a charitable contribution (interest-free) of up to 20 dollars from the Charity Fund, which could be repaid in installments over many months. Similarly, the People's Bank provided long- and short-term loans of several hundred zlotys at a low percentage rate.

[Photo:] Bank directors. Seated from right: David Warshavsky, the slaughterer Moshe Prager, Yosef Berezovsky, Zechariah Schmid, Moshe David Wasserman, Alter Goldberg. Standing, from right: Beich, David Shushanov, A. Kravetz, Feigel Epstein, M. Auerbach, S. Z. Goldman, A. Saratshik.

        The People's Bank, as well as the Charity Fund, were the most important sources of assistance for shopkeepers and businessmen who needed money to buy merchandise or repay a debt, as well as for the ordinary householder or artisan who needed a few hundred zlotys to get through the harsh winter, when there wasn't enough business, until he could repay the loans in the summer.

        The People's Bank and the Charity Fund were known for their work as the only community institutions frequently able to save Jewish families from bankruptcy or hunger, especially in the later years when the pressures of poverty among Jews spread significantly. As mentioned previously, the respite and health care service were among the most important forms of assistance to the ill and needy in the form of doctor services, medicine and overnight company at no charge.

In later years the orphan assistance organization made tremendous contributions in Drohitchin. A separate section will be devoted to the work of this organization among the other community institutions.

[Photo:] The Halutz Youth Group, circa 1923.

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