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Regarding Frampol, the small shtetl in Poland many neither heard nor knew of it, while at the same time, to the local residents, it was – everything. On many maps, the name does not appear, at the same time that this little shtetl represented – the entire world… In short, this is where we were born, grew up. Lived in suffering and good times, with dreams and hopes. And who is not tied to the place in which they were born?

When it came to religious and community life, we were like other noteworthy … as was the case with all the small towns in Poland.

Our community had three buildings, in which were found: the Great Bet HaMedrash; an attractive synagogue; a steam bath and a mikva. The buildings stood in a straight row, like soldiers during a role call… but what is interesting, is that all of these three institutions, from an expressed religious character, were located in a Christian neighborhood… The way there led from the market, inhabited by Jews, through a small side-street, whose inhabitants were Christian. For the sake of truth, it must be said that those non-Jewish residents however bothered or provoked anyone of the Jews, who hurried along to the Bet HaMedrash, the synagogue or (as set apart) to the steam bath. No windows were broken, and no other misdeeds towards our holy places – were ever encountered.

Quite the opposite, the Christians in the shtetl, despite being half of the residents, did not have their own bath, and therefore made use of the Jewish steam bath. On the nine days when the steam bath was not heated, the Poles were disappointed, in not being able to enjoy the hot steam…

It is difficult to call up a date as to when all of their buildings were erected. One theory is, along with the establishment of the city, the Jews took care of their own houses of worship and a mikva. They even provided for dwelling space for a Rabbi and a Shammes.

Regarding the Bet HaMedrash, it is known that it was built about 50 years before the outbreak of the Second World war. We heard from our parents, that their parents bought ‘stones’ to lay the foundation for the Bet HaMedrash. The synagogue was 20 meters in height. Everyone wondered about the semi-circular soffit, decorated with a variety of pictures and stars, that sparkled from above. Heavy iron cords stretched down from the soffit with hanging lights, which had also been fashioned by Christians.

The women's synagogue – was a sacred spot. It was here that our mothers poured out their tears and pleaded for – earnings, health, a mate for their child's betrothal, a dowry for their daughter, from The Eternal One… the walls of the synagogue, as were the walls of the women's synagogue, were covered with paintings of lions and leopards to symbolize Jewish power, just as there was no shortage of harps and the fiddle of David. It was decorated with the best and the finest, and so the Jewish men and women came here to pray.

Beyond the synagogue, was the building of the steam bath and mikva. The mikva was heated twice a week – Mondays and Thursdays. The mikva – every Friday. The large oven there was heated up, until the stones turned red. The hot steam was channeled to the nearby large room, where there were wooden benches – lower ones and higher ones. This ‘kingdom’ was ruled by Azriel the Bather. In the

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women's mikva there was – Mall'eh the Bather. It was said about her that she kept a special book, when the Jewish Frampol women would come to the mikva. If one of them missed making a call there– Mall'eh informed the Rabbi, who already knew that he had to point out to the woman that she should not stop coming to the mikva…

Mall'eh the Bather was a hearty Jewish woman who did her work with much affection and commitment. She took special care of the prospective brides. Before she did a three-time ablution of their heads – and afterwards shout out: Kosher! Kosher! Kosher! – she shared all her ‘secrets’ of her future life as a wife and mother.

Frampol made use of pump --cold water, which was used after a hot steam bath. The water came from a source that was literally referred to as the ‘water of life’ – and it was from this same source that water was drawn for the cold mikva. At the time that the Jews, after a steam bath, would make use of the cold mikva, the Christians, after the hot steam bath – ran the pump…

Friday, towards evening it was like a zoo to look at how our fathers went from the mikva to the bath – washed off, looking distinguished, as if the Divine Spirit rested up on them, ready to receive the Sabbath Queen…

I remember an instance in the women's mikva, which almost let to an accident, and it just happened to be the Eve of Yom Kippur. The shtetl had a long time to talk about it, with inferences and the like. The mikva consisted of a large wooden box with an opening on the side. This box was hung from four iron chains, would be lowered into the deep and pure source of water. While the men were taking advantage of the ‘shvitz,’ and from the hot mikva, a few women let themselves into the cold mikva, in order to prepare themselves for the great Day of Judgement. Suddenly, a board from the mikva tore loose – and the bathing women were put in danger. Mall'eh the Bather did not lose [her composure] and quickly ran to the nearby Bet HaMedrash and created an alarm, saying that a catastrophe had occurred in the women's mikva. – and people should run to the rescue. Studying Jews, who were sitting over a page of Gemara did not rush to get there… It was only first now that the Rabbi grasped what had occurred there, and he gave a shout to the [sitting] Jews, ‘Why are you still sitting?! Lives are in danger, and people are in danger!’ Hearing such words, several Jews took off to the place of the accident, re-attached the chain, pulled up the box– and nobody was hurt.

The High Holy Day had not been disturbed…

Frampol also had distinguished people, also in connection with –anti-Semitism, which particularly infected the young Poles and school children, who lived in the periphery of the shtetl. I wish to relate a story about a clash with young hooligans:

Our young people were possibly behind the youths in other Polish towns, but there were a few areas where they excelled. It was very hard for a young Jewish man who wanted to become independent and earn his own living. This was a time, where he was not accepted in any royal employment, in no factory, in no working the earth. Accordingly, he was compelled to keep himself occupied at the traditional ways of making a living while with his parents, who also vegetated. Because of this, the

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far-and-away larger part of them looked for a way, to get settled in other countries, most commonly, to the Land of Israel. Literally, as if imbued by a prophetic spirit, they could see the coming end, even though nobody had yet presented himself as being so gruesome.

In the year 1939, on the eve before my aliyah to the Land of Israel, we were enjoying ourselves at the ‘signing of the wedding terms’ (ketubah) of a lady friend, Chava Ritman. Afterwards a group of young people went outside to take a stroll. Being in high spirits, we did not take note of the fact that we had ‘crossed the border’ in Frampol up to which point Jews were able to show themselves without danger. Here, we were assaulted by young Polish hooligans. Our girls received such fearfully severe blows, that to this day, I do not know by what miracle we were saved. Later, under bad threats, we had to cancel the court appearance against the anti-Semitic hooligans…

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The small shtetl of Frampol can be found in the area of Lublin, between the small towns of Janow-Lubelski, Turobin, Tarnogrod and Bilgoraj, which was not even found on a map – far from a railroad train line, between forests and clumps of trees, circled on all sides by villages.

The little Jewish houses were pressed close together, touching one another, as if they were seeking protection against an area enemy… The houses were small, little not built from bricks, and having unlit streets, stood out in the surroundings with their mud holes and darkness, as well as goats that wandered about without being shepherded, and snatched the straw from the roofs…

Frampol had about 400 Jewish families. Apart from some families that had a stable income, the rest had to work very hard to the point of exhaustion, in order to be able to earn a living at the fairs, which took place every Monday. The peasants from the surrounding villages would come together to sell their products and take care of all sorts of city goods and merchandise for their use. The craftsmen of Frampol, storekeepers and middlemen would then lay out their merchandise, trembling in the winter, hoping there would be no snowstorm or in the summer – no rain, which would have disrupted their sales from which they lived for the whole week.

On Wednesday, these very same Jews would pack up their merchandise in order to take the goods to Goraj for the fair, and in this manner they supplemented the meager earnings from their home-based Monday market. The retailers and handworkers and the hired Polish wagons, filled up the marketplace., bargaining and insulted by using the worst anti-Semitic expressions. The largest shouting came from the ‘czapehs,’ well-heeled dry goods merchants in the shtetl. They had the most number of packages to move around. Also, in the other days of the week, a small number of Jews from Frampol went off to the fairs in Bilgoraj, Turobin, Tarnogrod and Szczebrzeszyn. And others again – in the surrounding villages, where they carried on a bartering business with the peasants: from a needle to kitchen utensils and clothing – for a bit of kasha, flour, butter, cheese, a chicken, eggs, a small container of wheat, etc. in this area, the well-known chicken merchant Nahum (with the added name of Antolik). He already knew to which homemaker he would sell the chicken, in order to avoid bargaining.

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Apart from the enumerated ways of making a living, there was also a cooperative – orchard keepers. In this area, the brothers David and Ephraim Altman, Abraham Aszenberg (with the added name of ‘dzhabehs’ excelled. He was a major grain and fruit merchant. As soon as the fruit began to blossom, they went off to the villages and, according to the extent of ripening, they would rent the orchard from the peasant. They would then set up kiosks, and settle down in them with their whole family for the whole summer. In the autumn, they would present the fruit to the wholesalers in the big cities, as well as the stands of the merchants who sat in the marketplace.

The few shoemakers of the shtetl only worked for the peasants of the surrounding villages. If you wanted a good pair of shoes, you had to travel to Bilgoraj or Janow. The same thing held for the few tailors, among whom the best one was Ben-Zion Waldman. He also made up clothing for the Christian populace.

Despite the overcrowding and poverty of the Frampol community, it was able to retain a Rabbi, two ritual slaughterers, a Bet HaMedrash and other religious institutions. The Bet HaMedrash was located in the heart of the Christian area and there was more than just one instance of Jews rushing to or from prayer services, being pelted with stones. Frequently, the windows of the Bet HaMedrash were shattered. The important balebatim worshipped there regularly, from the shtetl: both of the ritual slaughterers, Shmuel Yoss'l Kestenbaum, R' Yankl Finkelstein. The Cantor, Hazzan Chaim-Yehuda Harman, with his beautiful praying, drew even those who did not worship there. [This was so] until Warsaw ‘grabbed him’ – and he remained there as the regular Cantor.

Jews came to the Bet HaMedrash throughout the entire week to pray and study. In the evenings it was possible to see how the Jews rushed through the small, dark side streets, to Mincha and Maariv, and the Heder children going home with lit lanterns. On Friday nights and the Sabbath the Bet HaMedrash and the remaining small places of worship, were overfilled with Jewish people, who had not been in their homes all week, but rather traveled around to the fairs in the surrounding villages. Part of them did not yet have their beards and sidelocks dried from the municipal bath, which they barely got into, in order to ‘grab a bath’ before candle-lighting. The Friday afternoons looked rushed, when Jews, with small brushes under their arms and with packages of clean undergarments, escorted by their children, went to the municipal bath, which was empty for the entire week and was only heated on Fridays. Sweating and satisfied, the Jews went home afterwards. The houses already had the odor of the Sabbath about it. The candles had been lit in silver candlesticks and the Challahs covered, on small tables already covered [with tablecloths]. To this day, I recall the recitation of the Kiddush done by my father, when everyone – my mother and also my four little brothers, had to be present. Afterwards we sang zemirot together. [I remember] also the recitation of ‘HaMavdil’ on the night of Saturday. Deep in my memory are the days of sorrow such as: The Nine Days, Tisha B'Av, Purim, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Chodesh Elul, when in the cold dark nights wake up from a deep sleep – to attend Selichot [services]. Jews, carrying small candles in hand, would come out of all the side streets ‘being drawn’ to the well-lit Bet HaMedrash, a complete contrast to the outside darkness. The religious life in the shtetl was conducted in this way throughout Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and the joyous Simchat Torah.

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It was only after the First World War that various cultural institutions began to be established and organized in Frampol, which brought a complete upset to the way of life of the Jewish youth. With the founding of the school named for Joseph Dombrowski on the road to Goraj, the first rays of education began to penetrate the shtetl. Our strictly religious parents, however, did not permit their sons to sit in the Polish school to learn without a head covering. I am not in a position to describe the suffering and harassment that we Jewish students had to deflect in the school-bank, beatings and insults, without the possibility of registering a complaint, because the teachers as well, were infected with the anti-Semitic poison. Despite this we didn't learn any worse than they, and so with the mediation of Moshe Weltczer and Gershon Rosenberg, it became possible to intervene with the leader of the school, when the situations became serious.

A trembling takes hold of me when I recall what our shtetl went through on a certain Passover Eve, when a Christian child strayed and was lost. Jewish life in the shtetl was as if it were dead. Jews did not dare show themselves on the roads and in the villages, we did not go to school. The first martyr of this blood libel was Shimshon Frampoler, in whose house the first search was conducted. Even

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when the child was found, both alive and well, the Poles still believed that it was the Jews who did this. It was impossible to convince our [non-Jewish] neighbors that we do not use any [human] blood in our matzos.

Even in normal times, the anti-Semitism by us was great. To stroll in the evenings in the lower part of the city, where the Christians lived, was filled with many dangers: dogs were sicced on us, pelted with stones, or smeared with tar. It was in this way that the nightmare of the several years of the presence of the school went by.

A Youth Group in Frampol –1922 (?) Standing: (right to left): Yitzhak Lieber (Now in Argentina), Yeshayahu Rot (Argentina) Chana Frost (New York), Berisz Hochrad ז”ל Sitting: (right to left): Chanan Rosenberg ז”ל, Itcheh-Meir Lieberbaumז”ל, Moshe Redelman ז”ל

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with Zionist ideals, – whether through a lesson in Hebrew, or by given a pamphlet to read. My first Hebrew words and Zionist thoughts, I learned in this very place, because the people there were among my closest friends. A little later, a room was rented from a Christian and opened the first ‘Tarbut Hall.’ Hebrew lectures were given there, and new male and female students came. Shlomo Kleidman taught. On the Sabbath – there were debates about various themes, held by locals, or invited speakers.

Even before this, a group of young people founded a library, led by Abraham Pankewicz and Kalman Ehrter. The library did not develop until the Zionist youth took it over. Then it blossomed. The library was enriched with books all the time, especially by Yiddish writers: Mendele, Sholom-Aleichem, Peretz, Dinesohn, Anski, Gordon, etc. There were also books by non-Jewish writers, such as Jules Verne, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Szenkiewicz, Proust, and many others. Despite the vigorous opposition of our parents, in whose eyes, each move forward was seen as assimilation, and it was literally dangerous to take home a pamphlet to read, because the fanatic parents would tear them up – the library, nevertheless, continued to develop. We quickly went over to an oil lamp in place of wax candles. A Drama Circle was also founded, and we started to perform theater plays.

After founding a professional society, to which the craftsmen and workers belonged, the library grew even more, because the society members themselves already were sending their children to the cultural institutions. Our activity grew stronger. We were no longer behind the neighboring small towns. On the culture scene, Berisz Levinger, Meir Weltczer and others, were outstanding.

With the strengthening of anti-Semitism in Poland after the death of Pisudski, the plight of the small-town Jewish youth literally could not be seen. [Jews] were not permitted to take employment and since there were no factories to speak of, sentiments to emigrate dominated the Jewish youth. The visits of emissaries from the Land of Israel and their call to the unemployed Jewish youth to make aliyah, and help to build the Land – found a fecund soil. Young people went off to the training camps in neighboring small towns, and even got themselves in at Zamo and Lublin. At the end of training, many received certificates and made aliyah. Others though (like Tamara Jaegerman) traveled to Israel on an excursion. Part of the young people emigrated to South America. Anyone who had the opportunity to leave Frampol up to 1939, avoided the frightful death at the hand of the Nazis.

Several of our comrades were actually ready to make aliyah – but it didn't happen for them. They were exterminated (Ephraim Hochrad, whose head was found in the forest as a result of decapitation by Poles, Berisz Blumer, etc.)

Also, those nearest to me were bestially slain. My father ז”ל was shot when the Frampol Jews were driven to Belzec. On Thursday, the 23^rd of Heshvan 1942, he fell, being out of strength on the way to Szczebrzeszyn. My mother and two brothers Yoss'l and Zviז”ל; on the 14^th of Kislev (1942): my sister Golda, who hid herself at a Christian's home, was informed on by gentiles, and was shot by Germans, together with the Christian. At their request, they were all buried in one grave. My youngest brother Azriel ben David fell fighting with the partisans (Sunday, 18^th of Nissan 1943). It was in this way, that the shtetl of Frampol, with its precious Jews was left only in ruins. Our hearts are full of pain and we will never forget them.

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One of the chief foundations of commerce in the shtetl, and its most important economic base, was– the Monday fair. On that day, hundreds of wagons would come to the marketplace on that day, bringing on board everything that the village had produced, in order that the agricultural articles could be traded for salt and matches, plows and shovels, manufactures goods and boots. The quickly erected selling platforms and kiosks, displayed all the merchandise that was needed by the peasantry. There were Jewish families, whose sustenance for the entire coming week depended on the trade and earnings from this single Monday.

Also, Jewish storekeepers and common laborers from Tarnogrod and Bilgoraj would come to the Frampol fairs. Among them, there was no shortage of village Jews from around Frampol. They had both things to buy and things to sell at our fair.

Of the bigger merchants of Frampol, it is worth mentioning R' Itzik Kestenbaum, the owner of a manufacturing business. The big saloon belonged to R' Nahum Lieberbaum. It was here that the Poles from the entire vicinity would come to buy beer and strong drink for their weddings and holidays. The shtetl also had a ‘plant’ that made soda water and woven goods, which belonged to a Christian.

The eve of Rosh Hashana, or a Yom Kippur Eve especially etched itself into my memory, when the Jews who lived in the surrounding villages, would, on the High Holy Days come with their wives and children into the shtetl, in order to be among [fellow] Jews and to celebrated the holiday in surroundings of their own. They also brought pots and pans. They settled down in Frampol with other Jews whom they knew, and had a number of rooms, such as: Areh'leh Mahler ז”ל, Chana'leh Weltczer ז”ל and others.

On the Sabbath, you could not recognize the market that had Jewish stores. On a day like this, everything rested, everything was locked. By nightfall, the young people would go out for a stroll in the marketplace, on the roads that led to Kyszywa, Radiszcz and Kontess, entering the fields of corn and wheat, which circled around the shtetl.

But mostly I recall a Sabbath and a Holiday, because of the beautiful Zemirot, that came out of every Jewish house. There were houses where such Sabbath singing could be compared favorably with the nicest of concerts… When R' Leib'keh Shokhet would sing out with his beautiful voice the prayer ‘Ya'aleh Takhanuneynu’ or a ‘U'Nesaneh Tokef’ – the audience had something to talk about… also the Heder children, going home in a frosty and dark evening from the Rebbe, would also sing prayers and folk songs.

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The synagogue became overfilled for Kol Nidre. When the Cantor began to chant, the women's sanctuary broke into tears. The men, also, quietly shed a tear.

The piety of the shtetl was something to talk about. One could eat in a Jewish home in Frampol with such confidence in the kashrut of the meal – as if it were a Rabbi's house. There was also a Rabbi, Shokhtim and other clerical sorts who were supported by the Jewish Gmina. You can appreciate that there was no shortage of elementary level and Gemara melamdim.

The Rebbe, R' Moshe'leh would come to the shtetl once a year. He presided over a Tisch, zemirot were sung, and words of Torah could be heard. There was dancing and merrymaking until…

As soon as the [Nazi] Germans entered Frampol– everything stopped. Now came the demands for ‘contributions’ harassments, beatings, denigration, and forced labor – until cruel death arrived. And it was not only the [Nazi] Germans who committed murder, but also the Poles, our close-by neighbors. When Wolf Kupperstein ז”ל, the clothing store merchant who was beloved and respected by everyone, went out on the road to Goraj during the Occupation – a Pole shot him. Were it not for the Poles, the [Nazi] Germans could not have been so quick and effective in slaughtering the three million Jewish settlement in Poland.

Let these few lines serve as a Yahrzeit candle in memory of the exterminated Frampol Jews, they – my mother, brother, sisters and their children.

Little about our small shtetl remains in my memory, because I left it in 1922. In general, Frampol did not excel in anything special. It was a typical small Jewish shtetl in Poland, where Jews lived a hard and bitter life. In general, the Jews there were craftsmen, mostly – shoemakers, tailors (especially in making new fur costs), grain selling and other businesses, that are characteristic for a small shtetl. People worked hard day and night, and only managed to extract a poor living with difficulty. There were also a number of small Jewish shops.

From a cultural standpoint, the shtetl was one of the backward ones. There was not a single cultural or social institution. This is the way it was until 1914.

With the outbreak of the First World War, our shtetl was occupied by the Austrians. In that moment, the life of the small Jewish community literally became unbearable. It was forbidden to bake bread, and there was no means by which to conduct business, and we provided products for ourselves at night. The Austrian authorities requisitioned everything, and sent it off to Germany, for the use of the military.

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I encountered a change in the shtetl, when I came [back] in 1928 for a visit to Frampol. The youth were entirely different. There were already organizations, in which debates were often held and discussions about a variety of themes. There were often meetings held sitting on the benches [and interacting]. The young people questioned me thoroughly about life in the bigger cities.

We lived this way until 1939, when The Second World War broke out. In a matter of a few days the shtetl was exterminated with all of its cultural and social institutes and institutions. I will never forget the frightful death of my closest and dearest!

To the extent that I remember, in the years 1921-22, Frampol was wrapped in silence and paralysis, which was a formidable blow to everyone, who had either a community or political position on the Jewish street, in the first years of monarchical independence. In Frampol at that time there was no form of partisan life. The shtetl nodded in sleep, as if no changes had occurred in the country. The children learned in Heder, the older youth, in the Bet HaMedrash and the older generation continued to live their lives of Torah, faith, and strictly observing the traditional Jewish way of life.

Rumors suddenly began to spread that somewhere in the shtetl, even in the homes of balebatim, there are a variety of ‘atheist’ or Jews that did not observe the Sabbath, or ‘assimilationists’ as they were called. Later on we discovered that among those belonging to this group were Mekhl Ehrter, Leibusz Weltczer, Mekhl Frieling and several other young people, who strayed off the straight and true path and are doing things that nobody ever dreamed about…

So a bit of time went by, and we came to know what these young people are up to: they put on theater productions! If this was not enough, the selection of the plays presented had to be supportive of Zionist goals, the essence being – for the blue-white coin box of Keren Kayemet.

The shtetl literally spun as if on wheels, everything was seething and buzzing like a beehive. It also became clear, that only thanks to the help of the handworkers that the previously mentioned people were able to turn their dream into a reality.

The core gratitude for creating a Drama Circle in a small shtetl was a weighty step forward. At the outset, the initiators knew that they are placing themselves into sharp conflict with parents, the Rabbi, and the observant Jews who thought of them as wrecking the current way of life completely, which was very, very deeply rooted in such a small place. But time did its thing. The first play was presented. If my memory does not deceive me, it was the play ‘Hertzel'eh Meyukhes.’ It is now more than forty years later – and it is difficult to remember many details. Apart from the already-mentioned members, Mekhl Ehrter, Mekhl Frieling and Leibusz Weltczer, David ‘Sovik’ and others also participated.

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A group of HeHalutz members – 1930

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Chapter II

In the year 1923 (or 1924) Mekhl Ehrter sent me and my friend Berakh Finkelstein to Shlomo Kleidman and Zitrinbaum, to be able to acquire books to read. This was the first time a Yiddish book from the modern literature found its way into my hands. I devoured every word. I became a steady reader of books, and a frequent visitor to the library. This institution, just like the Drama Circle, also belonged to the social-cultural institutions, which were needed in order to draw in the young people to the Zionist group in the shtetl, which at that time numbered about ten men. There were three members that headed this group: Ehrter, Kleidman and Zitrinbaum.

On the eve of Purim 1924, these three assembled all the young people, who had shown an interest in the movement, and entrusted a significant amount of work to them. They divided us into several mixed groups of so-called children of balebatim and children of the working class, who were to visit several designated homes in a specific region or street, and during the Purim feast, put on an original Zionist Purim spiel… instead of the traditional ‘a good Purim messenger, wherever I go, I fall…’ the group had to sing the ‘Hatikvah’ ‘Tekhezakna’ or present something about the Land of Israel.

We were received with amazement in the homes of laborers and simple Jews, and at the same time exhibited sympathy and understanding By contrast, in the very observant Hasidic homes, they did not want to hear us– and even showed us the door… the beginning, however, had been made, a significant amount of money was collected and just that way, in an organizational way, we marched to perform the same Purim spiel. And it was in this way that we met with Kleidman and Zitrinbaum, and gave the money to them, which was allocated for Keren Kayemet. We saw how tears of gratitude welled up in the eyes of the older members. The essential fact of showing ourselves as Zionists, in the homes of the fanatically religious, with an irreligious Purim spiel – was a weighty step. Now there was no doubt, that Zionism had achieved an important position.

Despite this, enough parents could be found who did not want to make peace with this, [implying] that their children will stray into ‘bad directions.’ The conflicts between parents and their children was renewed. Instances occurred where children did not come home to sleep for two weeks, or not eat at the same table as their parents. This, however, did not prevent the organization from growing and enlarge its ranks. More and more young people were enticed by Zionist thoughts.

After the meaningful success of the ‘Purim -Action,’ Mekhl Ehrter decided to create a Drama Circle from the newly-acquired young people. During the winter evenings, we sat in his house until 11-12 at night, learned the parts, talked among ourselves – all under the direction of Ehrter, who did not set this work aside even for a minute. After three months of intensive preparation, we were ready for our first performance. We dedicated the income from this to our local gathering, which rented (a large hall) from Rivka Pankewicz. At the same time, in that year (1924) we obtained a legalization for a ‘Tarbut’ school.

The opening was linked to an evening of dance, which attracted a larger audience of the working youth and also generated revenue. But we had to be very careful. The event took place with closed

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window shutters. A special guard was stationed outside, to provide a warning in case of any danger. It subsequently appeared that stationing such a guard indeed came in handy…

Five grandchildren were raised in the home of the Bubbe Dvora Chana's – orphans. She looked after these children as if they were her own. Seeing that late at night, the oldest grandchild had not yet returned home, she went out into the shtetl to look for them. It was not hard to uncover the secret of where a dance was taking place. When she came to the local office, the grandchild was immediately warned:

–Itt'eh, your Bubbe is coming!

And Itt'eh fled through a back door…

By creating a separate local (office), the culture activities were carried out with great participation. Every Friday towards evening, Shlomo Kleidman lectured about literary and Zionist themes. But, as usual, did so behind closed shutters. Most parents did not know where their children were meeting on these Friday evenings before nightfall.

In the meantime, the Drama Circle was not asleep –and began preparing itself for another play presentation. But in the week of the premier showing, the Rebbe of Rozwodow, R' Menashe'leh, who presided in the shtetl, decreed for his Hasidim whose children are playing in the theater – that they should not allow this. Yoss'l Zitrinbaum a simple but decent and very religious Jew, was strongly taken by the Rebbe's words and the crux was the fact that R' Menashe'leh knows that his daughters are acting. We counseled the girls, that they should not sleep at home for that week.

There were also stubborn rumors circulating, that on Saturday night, the Hasidim will come to disrupt and not permit that the play be performed. We decided to post a heavy guard. Both sides readied themselves for a confrontation. Even the police were notified. Nevertheless, everyone was satisfied that the performance took place peacefully…

But there were consequences, because on Sunday morning, the shtetl once again was spinning like a top. As Berach Finkelstein and myself came to the Bet HaMedrash to pray, a great tumult broke out. They even threw Berach out of the Bet HaMedrash. His father, Yankl, felt strongly hurt by this. He was not aware that his son participated in such ‘apostasy’, that he performed in the theater. When he got home, he sat to observe Shiva, and even tore his clothing for ‘kriya’… And my friend Berach did not go home to sleep for about three months. He was settled in an attic somewhere, or with friends.

This is the way the life of the Jewish young people appeared in a small shtetl.

In the year 1925 the Zionist Organization in Frampol lived through a difficult crisis. The working element joined the newly-founded professional society, which took up the defense of the worker's interests and to fight for more rights and achieve more social objectives. Only the youngish shoemaker Joseph Waldman stayed with the Zionists. The professional society completely fell under

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communist influence. Later, we grasped that one of the most important reasons for the mass-abandonment of the Zionists was that what we didn't have was a central, authoritative and attractive personality who would have the skill to gather around it, and interest the young people, who lusted for knowledge and culture, a youth that was searching for a goal and [meaningful] content in life.

The principal organizer of the professional society was Yehoshua Flisswasser a shoemaking laborer from Bilgoraj. He was the one who was able to influence The Zionist-leaning youth of Frampol to come over to the society, which, incidentally, was running a nice set of activities on both the professional and cultural planes. They fought for, and achieved, an 8-hour work day, regulated the loans, and at the same time organized and implemented debates and so-called ‘bench evenings.’

The Zionist group, at this point, numbered about 18-20 boys and girls. Activities had almost ceased, and there was no possibility to support the large premises of the local, and we had to relocate in a smaller place, owned by the Pole Miazga, on the Sokolov Road.

It was first in 1926 that we undertook our work with more impetus. The concept of Halutzim struck deep roots and the young people began to prepare themselves for a productive life in the Land of Israel. In the meantime, we established local training, we chopped wood and did everything that was physical, difficult work, in order to accustom ourselves to the new life in the Old-New Land.

In the same year we were privileged to see the first of the Halutzim from the shtetl make aliyah to the Land of Israel: Leibl Zitrinbaum, Yekhezkiel (Shlomo Rivka's son) and Mottl Lieberbaum. Regrettably, after about two years, they returned to their families in Frampol.

At that time, the shtetl was shaken up by the vandalized destruction of the library of the Zionist organization. The books were packed in sacks and thrown into the creek. This crime was discovered the following morning – but it was difficult to concretely accuse anyone of the deed, because nobody was apprehended while it was in progress. For this reason, it was also not possible to approach the police, to submit a complaint to the court. Rather, what was discussed was the possibility that it was the communists did this piece of work, and apparently with the help of Joseph Waldman, who was suspected to be allied with them. We also knew that this was one of the ways (not only in our shtetl) to weaken the opposition.

In the years 1926-7, one could see a strengthened emigration of the working youth. Frampol became too crowded to give work and an income to the maturing generation. They traveled to Warsaw, went across to the other side of the ocean to both Americas. Individuals remained in the shtetl and, as a result, all of the community life became weakened. Mekhl Ehrter and Shlomo Kleidman continued to lead the Zionist organization.

In the year 1928 I emigrated to Warsaw and lived in the capitol city until 1930. In Warsaw, I drew closer to the left-wing ‘Poalei Zion.’ Upon returning to Frampol, I encountered a changed youth and a new cadre of leading members in HeHalutz: Berisz Blumer ז”ל, Yitzhak Zikhlerז”ל, Abraham Lieberbaum ז”ל, Abba Bekher, Yekhezkiel Frieling and Chaim Kislowicz (the last three are now in Israel).

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The Frampol HeHalutz Group in 1932

The remaining active [members] meanwhile decided to use the time of their forced need to remain in Frampol and organized a two-week summer colony in Sokolowka for HeHalutz HaTza'ir. At the last minute, they realized that there was no legalization for the colony. It was decided that on the morning of the Sabbath, Chaim Kislowicz will go to Bilgoraj to the Starosta with a request to allow the implementation of a Zionist regional get-together in Sokolova. However, this matter was not so simple.

First, the head of the movement, Mekhl Ehrter did not sign the request and it was immediately decided that someone would have to sign for him… secondly, the stamp of the organization was required, and it was in the possession of the secretary Joseph Lichtenfeld. After having the matter clarified, the latter affixed the stamp. By contrast, a member signed the name of Mekhl Ehrter without him knowing it.

At the start, Kislowicz took off on foot to Bilgoraj and after his appearance there, he returned home, and took his place to have the Sabbath meal, as if had come straight from worship. In truth, he made a round-trip of 34 kilometers, but most importantly – the permission was received. Yitzhak Weiner managed the summer colony, who was an emissary from the HeHalutz center, and I think, that Esther Schuster of the Kielce kibbutz [participated], as opposed to the Halutzim of Frampol – Yitzhak Zikhler, Berisz Blumer and myself, had to get involved in providing produce for the 40 youngish ‘colonists.’ There was not much money – and when we ran out of money to buy food, we took produce from Chaya-Ethel Blumer in the store on credit. Afterwards, we had to cover this obligation from our own pockets…

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Many parents came for the last Sabbath of the colony, and also the curious, to find out what took place there. They happened to arrive just at the time that the young people were seated in a half-circle and Yitzhak Weiner spoke to them about community life in the Land of Israel. On one of the placards there were pictures of Karl Marx and of Borokhov, circled in red. By nightfall, the police knew that communism was being taught in Sokolova… they were not idle and went there, arrested Yitzhak Weiner and ordered the colony to be disbanded. The senior police officer also ordered that he be shown the permission and upon seeing that it had been issued under the name of the Zionist organization, ordered Mekhl Ehrter to appear before him. We still had the opportunity to brief Mekhl what had happened regarding the signature, and pleaded that he not expose us to the police. Mekhl became frightened, and was very strongly taken by the whole incident, but he promised us that he would settle with the police that he had signed the request.

The HeHalutz HaTza'ir Summer Colony in Sokolova in 1934

– Shlomo'keh, you are responsible for what has happened to my husband…

The shtetl had a great deal of disappointment and pain because of this incident. And just as we did not know that the issue of the permission request was the direct cause of Ehrter's illness, we were also not certain whether the revisionists had informed the police about the ‘communist colony.’ But there was a basis on which this could be believed. Therefore, as an act of vengeance we demolished the revisionist local, tore up their pictures and broke their furniture.

In December 1934, together with Abraham Hoff, I made aliyah to the Land of Israel, based on the certificates we had been allocated by the central HeHalutz office in Warsaw.

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The official founding of the HeHalutz organization in our shtetl, dates from the year 1931. But in truth, activity of the HeHalutz began to take place in 1926, in the ranks of the culture-society, ‘Tarbut.’ With the strong identity derived from the Zionist ideal and activity in Frampol and with the crystallization of various Zionist groups in the shtetl, the needs for a separate organizational sect of HeHalutz emerged.

Our HeHalutz [organization] had two categories of members: the first – for going to work, and training, the second – only active in the local branch. The following members belonged to the first group: Joseph-Hersh Kislowicz, who traveled away for training to Kibbutz Grokhov; contrasted with Moshe Hochrad, and the Frieling brothers who did their training in Kielce. Immediately after them, another group of members went for training in Kibbutz Borokhov in Bendin: Chaim Kislowicz, Joseph Redelman, Moshe Kleiner, Esther Zismilkh and the writer of these lines. The results of the completed training did not let themselves tarry for too long because, already in 1934 Frampol had the privilege to send several Halutzim for aliyah to the Land of Israel, among which I was to be found.

To tell the truth, the material situation of the HeHalutz members was such, that even the necessary expenditures which were tied to the training – were not there. Apart from this, the training candidates did not have the psychological preparation, and the inner spiritual fortitude to do harder, physical work. It was therefore necessary in Frampol to search for workplaces and businesses for our members. They were ready to do all manner of hard work for which the Poles had a ‘monopoly’, to at least prepare oneself for the work in the training camp in Poland and to the work in an Israeli Kibbutz. And above all – thanks to the treasury of the HeHalutz organization which always subsidized with a special fund, that made possible to help the needy members to run our culture-grown activity and also to broaden the library.

For the sake of truth, it is necessary to say, that the existence of HeHalutz in the shtetl was not only thanks to the Jewish part of the young people, who dedicated themselves heart and soul to the organization. There were also members of a group of friends in the movement, from the so-called older generation. They not only were supportive in fact that the HeHalutz nurtures and loves labor, striving to transfer ever more Jews to the Land of Israel – but stood ready to provide tangible help to the movement.

At this opportunity I wish to recall the name of my father Wolf-Ber Hoff ז”ל, who gave over the use of a large room for the office of the local of HeHalutz and demonstrated a great deal of understanding and help for the organization.

At this opportunity, let us recollect the names of my father Wolf-Ber Hoff ז”ל, who gave the local branch of the HeHalutz movement the use of a large room, and manifested a considerable understanding and help for the organization.

Nowadays, if one takes a glance at the past, one can be proud of the accomplishments of this

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handful of young people in the shtetl, for whom the work of getting a grasp was not only a means to assure their own personal survival, but literally a whole concept unto itself. And the training-activity of ‘HeHalutz’ did a great deal in this area of endeavor. It is only sad that the largest part of those dreaming and fighting young people was so cruelly exterminated, not living to come to their own Land – the very dream and striving of their lives…

Frampol is mentioned only rarely in the so-called rich Yiddish literature, because of its remoteness and distance from a larger center (to ZamoŚć is a distance of 50km.): the bad connectivity with the surrounding world, no train line, no road, because the Czarist authorities were not interested in this.

In his book ‘Satan in Goraj’ I. Bashevis [Singer] pictures who are the wagons with Hasidim, who are traveling to their Rabbi in Bilgoraj, literally sink into the muddy swampland around Frampol. The renown I. L. Peretz with his quill only got as far as the village of Grajec, which is 10 km. closer to his city, and he portrays life among a group of Jewish farmers.

A beautiful tale about Frampol, that can only be read with bated breath, was written by I. J. Singer, and also I. Bashevis wrote about Frampol (Yampol) in his novel ‘The Yard.’

Frampol, like many other little towns in the Lublin Voievode, lay to the side, far from a large metropolitan center, not having its own train station. It even lacked the convenience of a main road nearby. This plight, perforce, influenced not only the economic development of the shtetl, but also limited the progress of its cultural development.

The closest large city nearby was ZamoŚć, at a distance of 45 km from Frampol. And in order to get to the nearest train station, Zwiezhniec – was also quite a trip of 30 km. Bilgoraj from the south and Janow-Lubelski to the west were, indeed, larger centers, but they did not have the cultural depth to serve our shtetl.

Because of this, life flowed in all respects as if it were a side settlement, containing a population of about 3,000 souls, out of a general population of 5,000 residents. About 40% of the adult Jews and the working population was engaged in: shoemaking, tailoring, furniture making, harness making and other things. The other 60% committed themselves to commerce in the shtetl itself and in the [surrounding] villages, counting the leased orchards. It is clear that in a Frampol of this nature, there were no lack of clerical people. It is difficult to say that this shtetl had any affluent residents. From a community perspective – the only thing that exerted any force was religious life. At the beginning of this (20^th) century, it was difficult to imagine extensively reaching changes. In general, the shtetl lived in a perpetual dream state. And if something created any movement – it was around the selection of a Rabbi, gossip, or a minor scandal – until it was forgotten.

Despite this, Frampol did not remain completely isolated from the outside world. News reached here

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with a specific dissemination and distortions - but they did get there! And an event like the Balfour Declaration immediately elicited a reaction. Several young people, typical of the type found in the Bet HaMedrash, secretly organized their own shtibl, that acquired the name ‘Zionist shtibl.’ By itself this was a major event. There was no thought given to creating an entity to conduct Zionist activity as what done in other places. But the first evidence that became visible – and it indeed brought a Zionist spring to the shtetl. The essence of establishing a shtibl that was not named for a Rabbi was at that time a risky step.

Laborers and workers grouped themselves around this shtibl, as well as Hasidic youth, who sought a renewal for themselves and the people. It was from this group that a cadre of young people took hold, who began to think about Zionist-Socialist themes. With time, they became the strongest and most active social force in the shtetl. Satisfaction with life blossomed here, as well as optimism and the song, the Hora-dance and all of the cultural work was benefitted by a fresh breeze that penetrated the shtetl, and literally created a revolution in the minds of our youth.

Hasidism was deeply rooted in the two thousand Jewish souls, who lived in the shtetl. Faith in and relation to the Rabbi reached back as far as the Hozeh of Lublin and the Rabbi of Zolkiew. Fanaticism ruled on the Jewish street and did not permit any progress [to be made].

It was first in the year 1918, after the creation of independent Poland, two world events broke down the walls of the parochial village fanaticism: the Balfour Declaration and the October Revolution [in Russia].

The first sign of worldliness manifested itself in the form of a culture society, ‘Tarbut.’ which is simply the core of a widely-branched Zionist activity of the Halutz movement. Loyal and committed activists stood at the head of Tarbut: Mekh'li Ehrter, Leibl Zitrinbaum and –separated for life – Shlomo Kleidman. They were attendees at the Bet HaMedrash, they manifested a schism [with the old] and joined the national concept of the Hasidic youth, who had gone through training at points in Kielce, Bendin, Baranovich and additionally made aliyah to the Land of Israel. Also the rich library, managed by a group of activists such as: Berisz Blumer (exterminated in the shtetl), Itcheh Zikhler (fell in the Israeli war of independence), Wolf Finkelstein, Chaim Weltczer, Yekhezkiel Frieling and Chaim Kislowicz (all today in Israel), drew hundreds of readers to it, wealthy and poor, merchants and working people, salaried employees, and educated young people. All of these derived pleasure from this library. A strong Professional Society was also established, which carried out strikes, and

HeHalutz HaTza'Ir in 1932

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increases in pay for the salaried workers. They also fought with the local authorities who closed down the Society, after its leadership was taken over by communists. The liberation activists Yehoshua Flisswasser, Joseph Honigman, Berisz Levinger and others, later had to emigrate across the ocean, because of the frightful chicaneries they had to tolerate from the authorities. Small political parties also were established such as the leftist Poalei-Tzion. There were very knowledgeable members. At the head stood: Meir Weltczer, the Pankewicz brothers and B. Levinger. Every Saturday in the afternoon, they would hold their affable debates in the nearby forest. There were also Bundists in the , and BETA”Rists, whose names I do not remember.

In order to resist the influence of the worldly and socialist Jews, which began to penetrate the ranks of Hasidic youth, the older [generation] was compelled to go along with the times. It was in this way that the ‘Agudat Yisrael’ party was created, which immediately declared war up to excommunication for members of other parties, especially the Zionist movement, who want to ready themselves for aliyah. They exerted themselves to retain the influence of the Bet-HaMedrash over the young and older generations– but without success. The spiritual leaders were: R' Shmuel-Joseph Kestenbaum, a decent but fanatically religious Jew, whose praying the Amidah while standing was a sight to see; the Rabbi's son-in-law R' Nota, a religious and ardent learner and additionally very stingy; Mendl Itcheh'lehs' a society fighter against worldliness – all these Haredi Jews believed completely and also demonstrated an ability to persuade others, that salvation can only come from God – therefore everything must be accepted with affection and wait for the coming of the Messiah.

The years of 1926-30 were the growth years for the pioneering organization in Frampol. Young people of ages 17-19 sought answers here for all questions that plagued them. But for all of them it was necessary to break out and be able to work. The issue of the mastery of work – to obtain places to work – was also strongly tied to the love of work. This was a big life experience for the shtetl, when every morning the young people from the homes of the balebatim would march out to such work, which was monopolized only by Christians. In the nearby factory of Jozef Miazga, Jewish youth began to get used to physical work, and from that time on, no longer needed access to a variety of work situations. The long generations of the Jewish way of life in Frampol after a long time, began to change.

Along with arousing a love of [manual] work, the organization also awakened a love of the book and exerted itself at the same time, to quench the thirst of the younger generation for knowledge and education. There were talks given by local and invited speakers, circles, lectures and discussions. The library, founded by their own staff, and had a thousand books, the evening bench discussions – broadened their horizon, deepened their knowledge and developed their minds. We did not pass up the creation of a Drama Circle which on several occasions dared to travel with presentations to Goraj, Janow-Lubelski and Turobin.

The initiators of this self-education circle, which later developed into a foundation for HeHalutz HaTza'ir were: Yitzhak Zikhler ז”ל, Berisz Blumer ז”ל, Shlomo Kleidman, Chaim Kislowicz, Moshe

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Hochrad. Abba Bekher, this writer, and others, whose names I do not recall. We would discuss and seriously deal with the contents of the books and newspapers that we had read, looking what the way of life was in some period of time where there was a social and simultaneously national solution to all the weighty Jewish problems we had to bear. Being occupied in the realm of ideology, we, as said, did not forget our practical work, such as renting a meeting place on the Janowska Street, in the house of Wolf-Ber Hoff, and to set up our large library and to accustom the membership to real work.

From the central office in Warsaw, I recall we were visited by Yitzhak Weiner and Tuvia Bazhikowsky. Their praise for the location of the Frampol HeHalutz, were completely justified.

A separate chapter was our summer colony, in the village of Sokolowka, two km from the shtetl, to which the young boys and girls would travel every summer to the village and take advantage of the fresh air – by the river, mountain and field. Even the observant parents took pleasure with the creation of the summer colony and escorted their children along the way, with a blessing…

I have an idea that all of the doings and accomplishments of HeHalutz HaTza'ir elicited envy among the other youth organizations in the shtetl, such as: BETA”R, Agudat Yisrael, communists, and other Zionist groups. Each from their own standpoint and with their arguments, attacked HeHalutz. The elections of the 18th Zionist Congress served to sharpen this struggle. The gatherings and discussions in the forest excelled in the earnestness they showed at this level.

It is clear that the Jewish struggle only strengthened our ranks. That is, except for the seemingly permanent anti-Semitism in Poland, and Hitler's coming to power in Germany, which made the atmosphere around the Jews more stifling, and compelled the young people to think of ways to get out.

A significant number of our Halutzim traveled for training to Katowice, Bendin, Lodz, Kielce, Bialystok, Baranovich and Pinsk.

We were still able to send our own Halutzim to the Land of Israel. Moshe Hochrad, Shlomo Frieling, Moshe Kleider, Esther Zimlich, Chaim Kislowicz, Yitzhak Zikhlerand others – were escorted accompanied by song and dance, literally by the whole shtetl up to the road to Bilgoraj. Others could not pass up the chance to ride up to the train station at Zwiezhniec and only then bid the Halutzim making aliyah a ‘fond farewell.’

And those who turned back to Frampol from training locations – could not be recognized. They were the same homey young people of ours, but with a new mentality and approach. All of them matured spiritually and politically.

It is Thursday, September 1, 1939. In Frampol it does not feel like the eve of a storm. Nobody sees in advance that tomorrow The Second World War will break out. In the shtetl, normal life continues, like on every day. Jewish wagon drivers distribute merchandise and passengers going to fairs, as well as those who simply want to visit neighboring towns. Mandate-tailors, shoemakers, merchants and storekeepers go out on the road to prepare raw stuff for the fall and winter seasons. And the itinerant merchants who took merchandise to the surrounding villages, went on the dusty roads like any other

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morning mumbling their prayers, beseeching the Master of the Universe for a day of good fortune with income for a complete life… and the craftsmen who remained in the shtetl, are already seated at their workplaces and through the open windows the noise of the sewing machines comes in on the air, along with the clattering of machine hammers.

Those who worshiped at the first minyan had just barely left the Bet HaMedrash – and others are coming to take their place. Later on, one sees the little ones going to Heder and into the school. In Frampol, another day has begun… but in the air an unrest hung, tension and expectation. The Jews in the shtetl, just like all of Polish Jewry had survived Pszytyk, Brisk, the decrees of slaughter, pickets, anti-Semitism in the land itself, and the often bellicose warnings of war from Hitler on the other side of the border. Austria and Czechoslovakia have long age fallen victim to the German aggression – now, most certainly is Poland's turn…

Very early on September 1, 1939, they already knew in Frampol about the outbreak of war. They had just hung out the signs about mobilizing a few divisions – when German airplanes appeared in the sky. Pandemonium broke out in the shtetl. I quickly went into the house, where my mother had been busying herself with preparing the delicacies for the Sabbath and for this purpose had heated up the oven for making cholent which she provided for all the neighbors. This is the way she acted for her entire life – simple – to do a good deed! In my frightened face, she recognized that something out of the ordinary was taking place – and gave out a scream: ‘Where are my children?’ I went out again, gathered all the children and all of them took off running to the trees of Jantetszik, looking for shelter against the murderers in the sky. We immediately hear the wail of falling bombs and the strong echoes of their explosions. Fortunately, the bombs fall on the Sokolow fields, and this time there were no human casualties. But on that Friday evening we no longer went to sing the Sabbath songs in a loud voice. Trembling and confused, we all waited to see what the morning would bring.

The morning brought an evacuation with itself. According to a special permission from the Rabbi, Jews hitched their horses to wagons, or rented wagons from the Poles and began to leave the shtetl. At the same time, fleeing the shtetl started after Friday, but the Sabbath engulfed almost all the Jewish houses. We fled not too far away – only to the neighboring villages. My mother, Gittl, sister Reizl and I went to the village of Komadzhanka, a bit distant from Frampol, but we felt safer there because of natural fortifications and deep valleys with mountains. In addition, the village lay between two pine forests. Frampol became empty. The evacuees dared to come back into the town only in the evening, to take necessities from their houses, empty certain things – and go back into hiding.

Several days passed in this fashion – until the Eve of Rosh Hashana, when German bombs in large number on the shtetl, and ignited fires on all four sides. Of those Jews who came into the shtetl on that day, in order to get prepared for the holiday, to wish people a Good Year, and simultaneously get to know some news – not all of them came back to their hidden families. Approximately thirty Frampol residents were killed by the bombs and the fires. From Komadzhanka we were able to see the fire initiated columns of smoke, which wafted over the shtetl, and destroyed hard work and labor created over the course of generations. My mother, and her sister, burst out into strong crying looking at this destruction. While I was still at a young age, I found myself needing to offer solace to them, and warn them that the war would quickly end and we will yet turn around and come home. You can understand that I did not believe my own words, sensing secretly the oncoming

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catastrophe, even though it was hard to portray the greatest pessimism that would overtake such a scale [of destruction]…

I did not sleep that night. Starting with my sister, I went off to the shtetl to get some news. We left our mother in the village, by an opened Makhzor, so that she may beseech [the Almighty] for a Good Year, for us and all of Jewry.

The way back to Frampol was not as simple as we thought. The frequent bombing, and the masses of refugees on the roads didn't allow for free movement. When we arrived at the shtetl, a frightful picture was uncovered before our eyes: Streets, houses and businesses – were eradicated. There was no trace of a larger part of the shtetl. Suddenly, the sound of recitation of the Holiday prayers reaches our ears. In the garden of Jan Sobczak, Jews donned their kittls and prayer shawls, beseeching God to protect them from the dangers of war. We can hear the familiar melody of ‘U'Nsaneh Tokef,’ Shmuel Joseph Kestenbaum Nota, the Rabbi's [son-in-law], Mendl Itcheh'leh's and other Jews praying beneath the open sky, raising their hands to God. A number of trees around them were incinerated, and it seems that yesterday, the fire had reached here.

I cannot stand for very long. I have to go to see what has become of our house. It is not there… it has gone up in flames, along with the poor goods [within]. Now we were left with what we wore. Refugees from Cracow passed though Frampol in the night. With my sister and myself we dumbly look this over. We are sunken in thought…

Suddenly we hear footsteps. A woman with two small children plead with a weeping voice, that we should take pity on them. They are refugees from Cracow who passed through Frampol in the night. A piece of shrapnel from a bomb struck her husband, when they together stopped to rest from traversing the orchards. She just wants her husband to have a proper Jewish burial and thereby requests my help. She and the children are in no condition to carry out the burial.

We conveyed the body to the cemetery with Nathan Kestenbaum, and on Rosh Hashana we performed all the rites for the slain refugee.

The air attack on Frampol and the surrounding area – did not stop. We decide to leave the village, because we had no familiar peasant friends here. A few days after Rosh Hashana we went over to the village of Sokolowka, which was closer to the shtetl. My mother was well-known there, there was also food there, and we no longer suffered from hunger as we did before in Komadzhanka. The peasant Szimek Szwatowski gave us a room and also helped out to the extent that he could.

The Germans entered Frampol on the Eve of Yom Kippur. During the first days of their occupation, Jews did not leave their houses. Later one got used to it, because at the start we did not hear of any special harassments.

All this time we were in Sokolowka. On one occasion, the peasant called me outside. On the yard, I detect three German soldiers. One of them asks if I understand German. After I reply ‘Jawohl’ he asks me if I am a Jew. I did not lie. They order me to sit down in their car, and travel with them.

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They are looking for honey… I will have to be their guide and their translator. Riding to a peasant I knew had honey, I heard how the Germans were having a conversation among themselves, they are debating whether I should be shot or let go free. One of them proposed – that I be taken to a military stockade…

When they had finished buying the honey, the senior among them ordered:

– Jude – Lauf!^[1]

I took off running and meanwhile thought, that a murderous bullet would chase me. But the Germans did not shoot. I was able to return to my mother and sister. But none of us thought of remaining in the village. That same night, by way of fields and side roads, we went off to a second village and at its very edge, we entered a room in an abandoned house and spent the night there. The restlessness just then started.

Most of the hidden Jews began to return to Frampol. The reason for this return was because the Germans were not comfortable staying in the shtetl, and once or twice a week they would go to Bilgoraj, or Janow. Having no alternative, the three of us also returned to Frampol and try to organize ourselves in new premises.

On one day, I was standing on the road to Szczebrzeszyn, near the home of Feiga Raphael's, the only Jewish house that remained intact, thought shot through and through with bullet holes. This was the meeting point for the Frampol Jews. Suddenly one hears a loud police whistle. Jews began to run. The road to Sokolowka immediately filled up with fleeing and frightened men, women and children, as well as the elderly. Each person wanted to reach their hideout as quickly as possible. There was a lot of pandemonium. I hear behind me the confused shout of a four year-old child: ‘Mama! Mama!’ I turn around and see a crying little boy behind me, who in confusion is looking for his mother… I don't think a lot, take the child on my shoulders and set out running again. The child clamored to me, feeling a protection and security. I came into the village exhausted and tired, where my mother and sister were. At night all four of us (including the found child) went down into the cellar to sleep. In the morning the mother of the child, a woman of Frampol whose name I don't remember now, appeared in our cellar. It appears that someone had told her that I had taken the little boy with me. Looking at the moving scene of joy, which broke out between the mother and child, tears welled up in our eyes…

I do not know if that Frampol child remained alive or did he suffer the fate of the million exterminated Jewish children of Europe. Still in the midst of those frightful wartime days, even the grownups felt like lost children and it was difficult distinguish them from the children.

Translator's footnote

1. Jew – flee! Return

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For his entire life, my father was a committed Zionist. Together with my cousin Shlomo Kleidman he founded the Zionist Organization in Frampol. My father made aliyah to the Land of Israel, but at the end of the thirties – he returned to Frampol. I can remember how much it meant to him to found a school in the shtetl that employed Hebrew as the teaching language. Nobody believed that such a thing could be implemented in Frampol. However, my father did not give up. With a few additional enthusiasts – Mekhl Frieling, Mekhl Ehrter, Chanoch Reisenzilber, Simcha Aszenberg and others – it became possible for him to turn a dream into reality. In Frampol he established a ‘Yavneh School.’

Our first teacher came to us from Vilna, his name was Lilienstein. He was an energetic and educated young man, but he loved Yiddish more than Hebrew. The school committee did not expect such an orientation from the teacher – and after a short time, he left the shtetl. The second teacher, Goldstein was a gentle, blond young man, who played the mandolin. During summer evenings one could hear the beautiful strains of his mandolin melodies all over the shtetl. He instituted lectures about playing the mandolin in the school for the students who had an interest in this. Later on, he left the school and the shtetl, but I cannot recall for what reasons.

The teacher Frischberg came after him, a really religious man, descended from a rabbinical family. [He was] a teacher of the ‘old school’ and therefore he did not elicit the proper calm behavior from the students. He was also a miser. In time, the committee also let him go.

Afterwards more teachers came – but I cannot remember all their names. Shmuel Drayzen had the good fortune to place the ‘Yavneh School’ on a high level. His youth and freshness in learning, created for him the required authority from the parents, as it did from the children. Because he was so handsome, many girls in Frampol fell in love with him.

Thanks to my father's initiative, ‘Yavneh schools’ were also founded in Goraj and Turobin. Apart from the studying, output and presentations were presented in Hebrew. Because the Polish schools would not permit the attendance of Jewish students to the presentations, the Yavneh school provided an opportunity for its students to display their artistic talents.

Two Frampol residents also were part of the teaching personnel: Moshe'keh Waldman and Yoss'l Lichtfeld – a gentle intelligent young man, and they taught Tanakh.

The school had an ongoing struggle with material difficulties. The parents saved some from their meager earnings, the committee worked with soulful dedication, in order to sustain the school and give the children a modern Yiddish-nationalist education.

Who among the older residents of Frampol doesn't remember spending the entire week anticipating Monday – the day of the fair and thereby would wish for good weather. A good sum of money and for sustenance could be anticipated from it for seven days – until the second fair the following week. But as if to frustrate us, Monday was a day on which it usually rained, or a snowstorm would arrive. Then, one could see sadness in the eyes of the Jews along with disappointment, because the meager income also meant that one could not pay tuition for the Heder or school. Accordingly it was good that our children could benefit from the support given to us by the American Society from those Frampol scions who sent their money for the ‘Yavneh School’. My father's brother Shlomo-Pinchas Zitrinbaum was the Chair of the Frampol group in New York, which certainly had an influence on the effectiveness of their help.

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For the school committee it was certainly a satisfaction that the children learned with serious attention, and most importantly – spoke a very fine Hebrew. Unfortunately, ‘Yavneh’ did not have any higher classes, as opposed to the Takhkemoni School in Bilgoraj.

Our school existed from 1931 until 1939 when the Second World War broke out. Two years later, the Jewish population of Frampol was exterminated by Nazi murderers. Among those killed – were also children from the Yavneh school. Only 5 of them are alive today – they are already fathers and mothers to [their own] children.

In our time of trouble, we turn to you, our dear and important friends from Frampol in the Land of Israel. As you know, a Hebrew school exists here since 1930, which takes under its protection the children of your friends and relatives. In the course of this time, we have had the ability to raise a fine young generation in the spirit of Nationalist Jewry. It is thanks to the energy of the teaching personnel that its prestige has been elevated. This very important institution has been placed on the appropriate cultural level. We have exerted ourselves to extract poor Jewish children from the net of assimilation, which lurks after us constantly. And just now, when the school is standing at its blossoming and development period, a storm had draw near, from which there is the possibility that the building, which was erected with so much blood and sweat –may collapse. Following an order of the Polish authorities, we have to move to more spacious quarters, which will follow all of the rules for hygiene.

Teachers and Students of the ‘Yavneh’ School

Naturally, we cannot do this today and therefore it is a risk of having to close the school down for not being in compliance with the existing rules, and you can understand that this implies bitter consequences for us. We have decided not to resign ourselves to this and with dedication of our souls keep the school in our purview. Together with this, we have decided to tax ourselves to the extent possible and build our own building for the school. The stress on us is colossal, and we looked around that if you, dear friends, will not come to our help, we are powerless to make this happen.

Our plea and call to you is:

Help us as much as you can in this our difficult hour and support us in laying a foundation for a Hebrew school in Frampol, which will carry your name forever. Please accept the heartfelt gratitude from tens of Jewish children and confused parents in Frampol – to begin with.

In waiting for your swift reply and help, we wish you long life and כט”ס.

The Education Committee

Henoch Reinzilber		Mekhl Frieling
Leibusz Weltczer		M. A.
Avraham Maver		Yitzhak Frampoler
Sh. D. Bryk		L. Zitrinbaum

The stamp of the School in Polish and Hebrew:

Hebrajska Szkoła Relig. P. N. “Jabne” we Frampolú
(The ‘Yavneh’ School in Frampol)

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