[Page 87]

[Page 88]

An intelligent person, well-rounded in his knowledge, and making frequent trips to the large cities because of his business interests, separated him from the average Frampol Jew. Because of his fragile health, his wife helped him with his businesses. But his illness did not deter him from being the true representative of the community, and occupying the most important position of Community Head for many years. People came to him to get advice about a planned marriage, straightening out a dispute, or getting some business advice. He was respected and beloved by most of the ranks of the Frampol Jews.

He was a great expert in mathematics. Not only once did he assist the local teachers by solving difficult mathematical problems. He also looked after the education of his seven children.

He was a Trisk Hasid, a valuable acolyte of the Rebbe R' Moshe'leh who would stay with him at his house, when he traveled to Frampol. In contrast, R' Berisz would travel twice a year to Lublin – not forgetting to make a side stop at his beloved Rebbe's.

R' Berisz Dinburt was also active in the Hevra Kadisha, and was a good chanter of Torah (during services). Many people would gather to hear his reading of the Megillah.

If a Jew needed a special consideration – he went off to R' Berisz without doubt, knowing that he will leave there satisfied.

R' Berisz looked after the raising of his children, and brought down special teachers from the outside world, in order that his sons derive value from religious and secular studies. In addition, when they had grown up somewhat, he derived much Nachas from them. They also helped him out in business.

Today, when the tragic fate that overtook the Frampol Jews during the occupation of the Hitlerist murderers is known, one recollects that under the Czar our shtetl Jews did not know of any discrimination regarding special occupations. If a decree was occasionally proclaimed, they permitted themselves to think about the fact that Frampol lay 20-22 km distant from the Austrian border, and therefore a large portion of the residents near that boundary. From that boundary, they brought in would bring in sacks of sugar, whiskey, linens and other merchandise. By contrast, from Frampol they took out horses for sale in Austria, and other merchandise.

Also, living together with Jews and Poles in a shtetl was normal 60 years ago, without tension or conflict. Even the issue of selling the Rathaus with its fill of businesses, which belonged both to Christians and Jews – was all conducted peacefully. The transaction was mixed the so-called Jewish land leaser, businessman – and about this type of an individual, I would like to relate several episodes:

[Page 89]

In 1903, he had accumulated a considerable fortune in Frampol and the surrounding vicinity: a distillery in Kantis, a mill in Sokolowka, property in Retszic and in Rida, and the biggest building in Frampol itself – the Rathaus, which stood in the middle of the market place. (Later on, there was a bank there). But by that time Herr Handelsmann was already living in Warsaw and was completely disassociated from Frampol.

My father a Dozor in the community, practically the only one who knew how to write, and therefore ran the books (other Dozors of that time period: Wolf-Hersch Frieling, Hersch-Mendl, and others) – made a special trip to Warsaw as a representative of interested Poles and Jews, who had their businesses in the Rathaus. [He did this] in order to lead the exchange of ideas about damages. Sitting in Warsaw, Handelsmann wanted to slowly liquidate his businesses in the shtetl, and first – get rid of the Rathaus, but only with the condition that the balebatim and the local residents will give their consent. Handelsmann promised my father, and other members of the delegation, several thousand rubles [to compensate] for damages, and the head of the delegation (my father) – a thousand as “money for the effort expended.”

After the delegates returned from Warsaw, haggling began. The balebatim were not satisfied with the proposed sum of money. I let my father know about the ‘money for the effort’ and decided he would travel to Handelsmann and demand a share for himself.

The entire issue stood as still as death. Sometime later, when my father again traveled to Warsaw, he found out that in that time, Handelsmann had died, and therefore he had to deal with issues with his son, because nothing had been put into writing. After a great deal of give-and-take the son gave two thousand rubles – and this money was divided up as needed for damages to everyone's satisfaction.

Our shtetl did not lack a variety of personalities, emissaries and ordinary Jews, who belonged to the ‘panorama of people’ and the general ‘landscape’ of Frampol. These very Jews – rich and poor, scholars and the ignorant, worldly and fanatically religious, honored me and gave me their affection, and I carried on discussions [with them] and ingested every word. Today, it remains to document, on paper, memories of the personalities of all martyrs. I have not distinguished between those who were honored and not honored. The following list of personalities was assembled by myself and reflect how they appear in my memory, not wanting to willingly seat one at the East Wall and the others in the corridor….

Who would believe that in such a far-flung little shtetl like Frampol, one would find such a meaningful personality, who certainly would have taken an important place in our lives, were we have all lived through the frightful war.

[Page 90]

R' Nota was a very poor man, his watchmaking business barely gave him a living. He was very observant, and every day he gave lessons in Talmud, for no salary. When he received 20 dollars sent to him from America, he did not want to take it because of his piety, arguing that the money comes from the desecration of the Sabbath…

R' Nota had a fiery mind, knowing the entire Shas by heart, had an opinion about the greatest scholars of the world, and was fluent in [Hebrew] grammar. He could cite Even Ezra the way an ordinary Jew would rattle off ‘Ashrei.’

The map of the Land of Israel was an open page for him. If a Jew would come to us from the Holy Land and conversed with R' Nota, the guest thought that R' Nota had gone through the Land in its length and breadth, and did this no less than twenty times…

It is interesting that nobody ever saw R' Nota reading a newspaper or books. Quite the opposite, he strictly forbade the reading of ‘trayf-possul’ items. The source, from which he derived so much knowledge – he took with him to his eternal resting place.

R' Shmuel Joseph was the only child of his rich father. His father –[was] a rather simple Jewish man, but Shmuel Joseph visibly with his own force, disposed of the simplicity of his family and it was with him that a new generation began.

He was a dedicated learner and a fervent Hasid, but he had an understanding of culture questions and politics.

It would happen that someone, who didn't know him met him for the first time and peered at his gesticulations while praying, like tearing pages out of the prayer book, or pinching himself on the ear, and other strange things – he could take him for an abnormal person.

But we knew him, and he was far from abnormal. In the frequent conversations that we used to have with him, we saw that in front of us there was a completely normal and attentive person.

He did a great deal for the benefit of the community. He had the entire city in mind. He would even abandon his own businesses and his hand was in everything. One did not elect anyone as a Dozor without Shmuel Joseph: regarding the bank, Bais-Yaakov schools, the Mikva, and Bet HaMedrash, the Rabbi and ritual slaughterers – he had to have his say about everything.

Wherever there was a pauper, the address given to him was that of R' Shmuel Joseph: If a Rebbe came to visit, he was put up only by Shmuel Joseph the prominent Jewish man.

On the Eve of Rosh Hashanah he traveled off to Lublin to the Trisk Rebbe, and returned with an etrog in hand, not before the Sukkot holiday.

[Page 91]

R' Shmuel-Joseph elicited the greatest respect for himself. He raised a handsome generation – four sons – all scholars, intelligent men, and good chess players. Regrettably none of them remained alive. R' Shmuel-Joseph himself was shot wearing a prayer shawl and phylacteries.

Let these few words be a headstone for his unknown grave.

R' Akiva Meir, the Melamed and Teacher

R' Akiva faithfully carried out his responsibilities. He possessed great pedagogical skills, knew how to learn much, had a blessed handwriting and a nice style. He was a great mathematician.

And the essence: with his rare pedagogic skills, he knew how to plant a thirst for knowledge in the young generation. Every child that had a hankering to learn could learn a lot from him.

It is clear that all our ideas in Polish, Yiddish, German and mathematics – we have him to thank for them.

Apart from this, every week we had to learn by heart entire sentences in Hebrew. Every day, an hour before we went home, we learned a chapter of Tanakh. That was the energy of R' Akiva-Meir the Melamed, and he was a great credit to the education of our generation.

We will never forget the memory of him.

My quill is too poor – to provide an evaluation of the personality of R' Leibl the Shokhet. A fact is that the entire surroundings, with its cities and small towns, literally as far as Lublin, were envious of little Frampol, who possessed a Shokhet, a man with all the admirable virtues and so much skill.

[Page 92]

R' Leibl Shokhet was a Jew who was seventy years old, with a handsome appearance, always dressed clean and neatly, a wise man and a first-class scholar.

First and foremost, he was a good Shokhet. This means that if it made a heavy odor, the butchers did not let anyone go near it, only the formidable expert in slaughtering. His ruling was taken up with complete faith.

R' Leib was also a well-known Mohel, at peace with his environment and attached to everyone, as two friends, literally like his own brother.

He was also fluent in matters of healing. If anyone complained of a malaise, he advised him to take a specific medicine –and especially in a pharmacy. It is told that he wrote prescriptions which were honored by the pharmacist.

Young and old, the observant and the worldly, would ask for his advice in a variety of instances.

Wherever there was a difficult religious ruling to be made, or a dispute over an inheritance, everyone knew that R' Leibl Shokhet would resolve it in favor of the best side. He would divide the houses among the heirs, like an expert engineer, using a ruler to measure every shelf and made the allocation. The most notable was that everyone from all sides were satisfied by his ruling. There has not been an instance yet, that one side would become his enemy, which he often found in these sorts of instances.

Lastly, he had a house built for himself. Since the district had the right to deny the permission to build new houses, without a plan from an engineer, R' Leibl developed the plan and gave it to a engineer to verify. It is further told, the engineer would ask R' Leib whether or not he had studied architecture – and he certified the plan of the Shokhet in one review.

To sit with R' Leib in secular discussions, was a spiritual pleasure. Each of the words sprouted with wisdom, and one had to learn from all of his words.

And lastly and best of all: He was, apart from all of these enumerated skills, a great composer of Hasidic melodies!

Since he could write music, every year, on the Eve of Rosh Hashana he would prepare three marches and a tune: for the Sabbath of Hanukkah, when he would travel to the Rebbe in Lublin, he took along two new melodies. His creations were sung in the entire Lublin area, full of indescribable faithfulness.

When he traveled to Lublin for the Sabbath of Hanukkah, to let them hear his rendition of HaMavdil, the entire city gathered under the windows of the rabbinical house, climbing the walls, in order to hear and see how R' Leibl'eh sings.

[Page 93]

When he began to sing with his blessed voice, these hundreds of people fell silent, to the point that you could hear a fly buzz by. He was accompanied by a violinist from the orchestra, named Shabtai'leh; it appears he was invited. On one occasion, it happened that after R' Leibl finished singing HaMavdil, Shabtai'leh said that after such a melody he had nothing to offer… and categorically refused to play the melody of HaMavdil again.

So R' Leibl took the fiddle and played his melody over again by himself. The large crowd was so stunned that out of great spirituality, they carried out R' Leibl on their hands.

For entire nights, nobody got tired by sitting and listening to musical playing.

I am reminded of one time when I went to R' Leib Shokhet to ask about a particularly difficult piece in the Gemara. When I came up to the window on the east side wall, where he had his own stool, I noticed that he had leaned his head against both of his hands and was quietly mumbling a tune to himself. I pulled myself back, not wanting to disturb him in his melody. But as soon as R' Leib took note of this, in embarrassment he turned himself towards me, and said the following:

– “What can one do, for a beautiful melody came to me. Not having a quill with which to write down the notes, I repeated the notes in order not to forget the melody… when I get home, I will document it permanently.”

His first rendition of Selichot, the prayers for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur – who has the strength to convey this. It went so far that the Rebbe of Trisk, R' Moshe'leh Twersky הי” of Lublin, was envious of Frampol, and stridently wanted to take R' Leib to him as a leader of services for the High Holy Days, because the Shokhet was, after all, a Hasid [of his].

It seems that R' Leibl had a hankering to take up the Rebbe's proposal. But the entire city was so resistant to this, wanting him to remain in Frampol and lead services, that the Rebbe had to give in to the sentiments of the community. No one in Frampol could imagine that Selichot, or prayers said during the High Holy Days, would be done without the melody of R' Leibl.

Our musician behaved in the following way: for the entire year, he would write down the notes on paper in several tones that happened to come to his mind, after which he divided the notes into three segments, but only he sang them, then he neither could do it, or simply didn't want to.

[Page 94]

On a Sabbath [before] Selichot there was a presumption already, that all of us his assistants, gathered at R' Leibl's house. He had risen from his sleep, put on his flower-decorated bathrobe, which gave him a special glorious appearance, sat down at the table and asked his wife to provide some Sabbath breakfast. He then took out his notebooks in which he had written the musical notes and began to hum the melodies.

He would elongate his rendition of ‘Sol-Sol-Sol’ – and we immediately felt that his creations were beginning to put on skin and flesh, and emerge as a complete entity. The three cadences were used

with one for ‘Yitgadal’ after the Amidah, the second before ‘VeYitromemu Kol’ and the third – for ‘Kitzvah Leshonkha.’

When one of the four brothers, Rabbis from Trisk, would travel to visit us in town, a large rush of Hasidim came from the entire area: Janow Lubelski, Bilgoraj, Tarnogrod, Szczebrzeszyn and Goraj. We would spend the entire Sabbath singing and learning R' Leibl's melodies at the Rebbe's Tisch. After this, these melodies were spread out further.

Naturally, these new creations lost some of their originality as they moved from one shtetl to the next. It dropped a note here, it added an unfamiliar tone there – and in this way the melody became distorted.

There was an incident, that a Rebbe traveled to one of those towns to observe the Sabbath. Also, our R' Leibl happened to travel there as well. Hearing what had happened to his melody, he ironically said:

“I hear something of my creation like a piece of chicken, without a hand, without a foot, but this does not disturb me, I am not, God Forbid, angry at those who have distorted my melody, because where is it stated that the ‘bim-bom’ has to be just like the way I created it? Perhaps this is the right way, how it has been distorted – [is OK] I did not receive it from Mount Sinai…”

Apart from everyone else, R' Leibl was of a good disposition. It reminds me of a cold winter's evening, when I, together with his small grandson Avraham were studying at his house. Suddenly his wife spoke to her husband:

– Leib, I ask of you to just take the used water out of the house.

R' Leib immediately took the bowl with the dirty water and went, with compliance, to carry out his wife's order. But when he was already in the second room, his wife shouted after him:

– See, please do not forget to pour the water at a farther distance from our threshold….

The intent of the lady was, that if on the following day the police will make an inspection for dirty stains on the snow, then let the punishment for this come out on a neighbor…

When R' Leibl heard this, he immediately turned back with the full bowl and angrily said to his wife:

Why do you ask me to empty this out at a different threshold, so he should be reprimanded for my making dirty [his threshold] Tomorrow somebody else will do this to you, and pour it right into your house… you carry out this pot yourself, if you are so smart…

That was the kind of mensch R' Leibl was. If someone needed a loan – it goes without saying. It happened more than once that it was necessary to help a Jewish person out with five zlotys. What

[Page 95]

does one do? At the lesson in the Bet HaMedrash, R' Leibl assigned two boys to go out into the town and gather the money for the needy person. In the meantime, he laid out the five zlotys from his own pocket.

If the Shokhet saw, after a couple of days, that the young boys were not indicating any awareness about money, he hid their phylacteries one morning… when the boys came to pray and didn't find their phylacteries, they immediately understood, that this was a bit of handiwork by R' Leibl. When he was approached to return the phylacteries, he answered:

– Yes, indeed, I hid your phylacteries, because you were responsible for the five zlotys. I have to continuously lend money to people – so what will finally happen?

It is understood that when the young boys accepted the responsibility of gathering the loan money, they got back what it was they had lost…

I do not know from whence R' Leibl came. But it was told that he was the Shokhet in the shtetl of Krilov. When this shtetl went up in flames and we, in Frampol, found out about this, a delegation of two Dozors – R' Itzik Kestenberg and R' Yaakov Kislowicz traveled to Krilov and pleaded with the Shokhet R' Leib to come to our shtetl. And this was without any payment from his side, as was the common practice in those days. As it appears, the name of R' Leibl Shokhet was so strongly respected, that the shtetl held a reception for him to attract him, refusing to take money, which was strongly necessary for the community's needs.

R' Leib Shokhet had a son and two daughters. The son followed in his father's footsteps, and was a Shokhet in Krilov and was also musically talented, just like his famous father. They often helped one another in their undertakings.

He was a simple wagon driver, and in comparison – not a little poor, but he had a warm Jewish heart. He got up [early] in the morning, before the cock crows, prayed quickly, as he said – ‘on one foot’ with the first minyan, which was the opposite of his business, because he drove his wagon at a leisurely pace. As an example, the distance to Janow was eighteen kilometers. I traveled by way of the ‘Polish Road’ for about four hours, because the horses were tired. He would follow the same course every day, and come home at about ten o'clock at night. And it was necessary to travel with Yekk'l the wagon driver, because there was no other way to get there in those days.

All of this describes what happened during the summer days. But if the inclement weather began – a rain, a snowfall, and a muddy road – then it was truly a God's compassion to look upon our Yekk'l Chmiel's. The horses were either tired, or a wheel came off along the way.

Yekk'l himself would say to his passengers:

[Page 96]

– To ride with me, you must first recite the ‘Gomel’ prayer, because my horses have the nature of going where one does not have to go.

He was a Jewish man with a good disposition, and loved to joke at the expense of his mediocre horses:

We have a formidable God in heaven, and so long as my horses can pull themselves along on their feet, for the coming Sabbath they will manage to pull me home…

It was fine – so long as everything went normally, but if a horse broke a leg, or died – R'Yekke'leh's need was great.

It was then that a couple of good Jews would have to get involved, we already saw that they had to put together a bit of money, and they got something from the ‘Gemilut Hasadim’ and they bought Yekk'l another breadwinner.

I remind myself, that after all this ‘joy,’ on one occasion there was not enough money, so they managed to procure a horse for him, blind in both eyes, because it was cheaper to buy it. As to this, Yekk'l would say:

– For all the good years, my breadwinner is as blind as the night, but if we encounter a pit, he falls right in…

Our wagon driver was burdened with children. We called his wife, ‘Esther the Righteous Woman.’ And just like the name we gave her, that is the way she was. She did not work which was an activity for other wives, with gossiping. One never heard even one groan or sigh in regards to her bitter luck.

It was exactly the opposite, she proceeded to help others to the extent that she could. Silently, she would collect donations for poor people and distributedit as anonymous gifts, and never told anyone for whom she collected. However, it was known and understood that the money was being held in honest hands.

Every Friday towards evening, Esther the Righteous Woman would send out small girls into the city to gather Challahs and other comestibles for poor people, and in order not to embarrass any Jewish person, she would bring these items into poor people's homes such that nobody would take notice, putting pieces of wood behind the door, in the cold winter days, etc.

I the more intense snows and snow storms, this lady, modestly and committed, would carry out this work. Her husband, the wagon driver would always say:

– My Esther, the Righteous Woman, may God grant that she be with me even after the 120 [years].

[Page 97]

Dark Shlomo – Who Invited Guests

Dark Shlomo (that is how he was called) was a shoemaker, talented who would repair boots for peasants.

It is difficult to say that Shlomo was a pauper, because one never heard him complain about his difficult situation, especially, since he was a great host to guests and especially for these kinds of poor people, who without his help would have to spend the night on a hard bench in the Bet HaMedrash. These kinds of poor people were called by us ‘guests of want’.

The better off poor already had their Hasidim, who provided them with lodging, as an example, R' Shmuel Joseph Kestenberg, or a second Hasid.

But there was nobody to look after these ‘guests of want’ When they entered the shtetl, they spent the whole day going to the houses and getting two groschen per house, or a bit of sugar from a poor house. After a day of dragging themselves around the houses, having come on foot from a nearby town, because there was simply nothing to cover costs, these people had no place to rest their exhausted bodies.

And it was especially the case, that a simple Jewish man who was a craftsman, like Shlomo the shoemaker, always showed them warmth. He would take them home to his house, which consisted of one room with an additional small room.

He lived with his family in the larger room, and he gave the smaller one over for infants from a large family. As I also learned there, I peered carefully at this shoemaker who had a warm Jewish heart, who took people into his crowded house for lodging.

He would spread out a bit of straw on the floor, because there was no other place in the house – and with special heartiness and concern, would provide for these poor Jews. He cleaned up the straw in the morning, in order to allow us, the little children, coming to Heder, should find everything put back in its proper place.

Shlomo also had a franchise every year after Purim, to bake matzos for the poor people who were unable to give their little amount of flour to the baker, because he took a large portion for himself…

Shlomo arranged things so that in his crowded home a family could come together, a wife and child at the same time, to bake their matzos. One of them would portion out the dough, while the other rolled it out, and a child would pour water for the chief kneader. And he, Shlomo, his honorable self, stood by the hot oven and baked. His wife made a ‘Meireh.’ All of this was very inexpensive at Shlomo's house.

This simple Jewish man stood by the oven and moved the spades around. With one, he set up the matzos, and the second – a smaller spade, he turned the matzos over onto their other side. And with the third– he took the matzos out of the oven.

[Page 98]

Observing Shlomo the shoemaker, how he stands by the oven, one had the impression that he did this with a profound feeling of sacred work.

And his eyes were all over the place, he saw what was going on in the entire house, and if he noticed how someone had turned over a section of dough on the second side, or – even worse – let a piece of dough drop on the floor, he let out such a shout, that one might have thought that a fire had broken out:

– Chametz^[1]! – he shouted alarmingly– and grabbed the little piece of dough. But he also began to comfort the poor family:

– Well, well, what can one do, you will have to cook small savory pieces of dough for the children to eat for supper…

As previously said, Shlomo the shoemaker was a very poor man, but strictly observant. Every beginning of the day he would go to the Bet HaMedrash to pray and put on phylacteries, which he put on even on Hol HaMoed. For us children, this was something novel, because in the shtetl not one Jew put on phylacteries during Hol HaMoed. We would specially go to the Bet HaMedrash to look at this peculiar behavior.

Out of courtesy none of us dared to ask him about this. We understood, that if the Rabbi saw this and says nothing, it is therefore simply not a ritual transgression.

This is the way this plain Jewish man conducted himself for all of his life.

They were two brothers: R' Moshe-Chaim and R' Nathan-David. They were very pious Jews, Hasidim of the Kuzmir Rebbe with heart and soul, very capable leaders of prayer services. R' Nathan was a miser. In the name of heaven, he would go around in the Bet HaMedrash – and woe betide anyone whom he caught saying so much as a word during the great Amidah.

By contrast, his brother R' Chaim was a man of relaxed disposition. He had a patriarchal appearance, always with a bit of a sweet smile on his lips. Neatly dressed, he dressed with taste and to top it all off – was content with his lot.

At one time he made a good living. It is told, that during the First World War, when he dealt in flour, the cholera epidemic broke out in the shtetl. Both R' Nathan and his wife took to bed. The starving populace broke open his flour storage unit – and R' Nathan's assets were lost.

[Page 99]

When he and his wife saved themselves and were able to get out of bed, she gave him no peace: he should find out who it was who benefitted from his assets, maybe something will turn up.

But R' Nathan with his permanent smile on his lips, answered her calmly: Let the poor get value from them. No wealthy man needed our flour. And, perhaps, because of this, we were privileged to be helped by God, and we returned to good health…

In the later years, he occupied himself with the sale of illegal whiskey by the glass. At that time, this was very dangerous. And here is what happened:

Because of being informed on by a gentile, he was apprehended and there was a risk of several months in prison. I recall, that, they brought, literally from Zamość, the most prominent lawyer, Tzigelman. The trial took place on the Sabbath and the entire shtetl was on their feet, because it was hard to imagine that a Jewish man like R' Noshe-Chaim will have to sit in prison. And it really was a possibility.

Moshe-Chaim argued during the trial that the Christians had brought whiskey into his house and asked if he would permit them to make a toast.

After hearing all the arguments, the Judge pronounced his sentence, saying that he does not believe that a Jew with such a patriarchal appearance would permit himself to break the law of the kingdom… R' Moshe-Chaim was released.

It is not possible to describe the joy in the shtetl.

As I have already recalled, R' Moshe-Chaim was a strictly religious Jewish man – but not an idler. At the first opportunity, he sent his two children to the Land of Israel. In general, he was not concerned with public opinion. And, in those times, this was no small thing.

R' Chaim-Moshe dreamed, hoped and waited for the minute when he himself will be able to make aliyah to the Holy Land and unite with his children.

Unfortunately, he did not live to see his dream unfold, because the murderous hand of the Nazi reached him. He and his wife, son and daughter, were innocently cut down.

All our hearts ache and every head is sick regarding the destruction of the daughter of my people, and the destruction of my illustrious family, and first above all with regard to the tragic and cruel death of אבי-ד”א my father, my teacher הי”ד, R' Abraham Eliezer son of Menachem David Lichtfeld. ‘Would that my head were water, and my eyes a wellspring of tears, then I would weep day and night

[Page 100]

for the deceased of my people^[2] who were not privileged to receive a Jewish burial.’

Hands tremble, when I take to documenting my hearty father, the longtime head of the Hevra Kadisha in our shtetl, who for his entire life was devoted to fulfilling the commandment of escorting the deceased. He did not have the privilege of having a Jewish burial, we do no know where his remains are interred.

My grandfather, R' Pinchas Zucker ע”ה literally bought him for money and he prided himself on his son-in-law, who was blessed with doing good deeds all of his life. He was a scholarly Jewish man who sat day and night and learned, he was also the scion of a formidable pedigree in the shtetl of Izbica near Lublin, a relative of the Rebbe of Biskwic ז”ל, a magnificent appearance, a good reader of the Torah, and many books, he was a mathematician, faithfully engaged in the needs of the community. And on top of all this – a good disposition between any man and his friend.

He sat in a Rathaus vault for days on end, and on every day, he studied a page of the Gemara or a chapter of the Mishnayot. Whether it was winter or summer, he would get up early, in order to go to the Bet HaMedrash, where he engaged in sacred duties, put on two pair of phylacteries, and for the whole time he prayed, he did not utter a word.

From the age of 13 [and on] he never missed a fasting ritual of the worshipers. In the evenings of the months, he always fasted until noon. When the Rosh Chodesh of Elul arrived we no longer could recognize him.

He walked about groaning and sighing literally from the depths of his heart, studied the Zohar and books of the tradition. Not taking note of the fact that he was a very sick man, he went to the synagogue on the Eve of Yom Kippur, he stood before all the children and blessed them with heart-rending weeping and he prayed this way until the end of Yom Kippur the following night. It was only then that he first went home to eat something and lie down to get some rest.

Apart from his piety, he understood the lives of the young and old very well, he read and subscribed to the first ‘HaTzefira’ and afterwards the ‘Jude’ and the ‘Tageblatt.’

He was among the first who organized a Heder for the children, where the Melamdim were paid their wages from a committee, which had oversight regarding their learning.

He was among the first to found the cooperative loan-bank, and afterwards the Gemilut Hasadim bank, he also installed the first Eternal Light in the Bet HaMedrash, which burned with olive oil. Every Sabbath when the Parsha of BeHa'alotekha was read, he made a lively celebration. Regrettably, after this, he became useless. He was very active in the ‘Bikur Kholim’. He would spend full nights with the sick, and the crux of his activity was to participate in the work of the Hevra Kadisha, which he led with an elevated hand.

[Page 101]

He produced an amendment that when a memorial prayer was said for a deceased, all the members of the Hevra Kadisha had to come to the synagogue for prayers. If there happened to be a deceased person in the city, the Hevra Kadisha members were not allowed to travel out of the city, except, as you understand, in the case of an exceptional instance.

He had custody of the ‘Pinkas’ of the Hevra, in which amendments of several centuries were documented. He also assured that there was order at the cemetery. When someone wanted to visit the graves of deceased ancestors, he told them exactly where the deceased was buried, from a different folio, and what number row, where that person had been interred – such a Jewish man deserved an appropriate Jewish burial – something he himself was not privileged to receive. Together with all the Jews, he was consumed by fires that the Lord had decreed. May his memory be blessed for all eternity.

Yeshayeh'leh was born in 1912. After being a boy from 10-12 years he showed a tendency to be alone. He would sit alone in the Bet HaMedrash, minimally interacting with the other children of his age. He also studied little in the Kloyz, the crux of his learning took place at home. It was hard to discern his essence. Among us, we had a variety of opinions about Yeshayeh'leh the Rebbe's. A few would say that his desire to hide comes from looking forward to becoming a Hidden One, who does not wish to reveal what he knows. Others, by contrast suspected him of personal pride. Regardless, everyone admitted that this little one had a sharp mind. This, literally being inherited from his prominent father, the Rebbe of Frampol ז”ל. Where this came from, nobody knew, but rumors began to circulate that this little son of the Rebbe Zindl had gone off to travel in a direction, which up till now was unknown to Frampol, meaning: he is immersing himself in the Kabbalah.

How Yeshayeh'leh came to this, nobody knew. But I remember the following fact: once on a Rosh Hashanah, before the sounding of the Shofar, when a large part of the congregation was deeply into reciting the Zohar (and it is said with much heart and weeping – those who understood it, and those who didn't) Yeshayeh'leh suddenly called me over to a side and said, not in his usual manner:

– Moshe, let us learn the Zohar.

As to the question of whether or not he understood the Zohar, he replied, if it is appropriate, one can understand everything, even the names of the Holy Ones, which they say, people feared to articulate from their mouths,

I have to mention, that his father, the Rabbi of Frampol was an ardent Mitnaged and as a result, he did not want to permit his son to go this way.

Yeshayeh'leh began creeping me into the High Heavens and it is luck that the heart-rending shout from his father ‘Min HaMaytzar,’ disrupted our discussion, because who knows how far we would have gone…

[Page 102]

It became clear to everyone that the Rebbe's little son is involved with Kabbalah. However, regrettably, he also like many other young folk who blunder about along these paths, was undermined in the test of ‘blooming and then hurt.’

A few years later, the conversations began that Yeshayeh'leh, the Rabbi's son had begun to write poetry, and as it happened, modern poetry that he is an ardent listener to Chaim-Nachman Bialik. 

It is understood that his father, the Rabbi, knew nothing of this. But on one day, Yeshayeh'leh elected to travel to Warsaw, seemingly with a small package of poetry. It was at this point that his father grasped that something is not according to the rules here.

The Rabbi attempted with gentle and angry methods to stop him from carrying out his plan, but without success.

An idea was said that being engaged in High Worlds, Yeshayeh'leh wanted to draw near to extremism. And this is what took place:

A short time before the ‘Black Sabbath’ when many arrests were carried out among the communists, a few of them felt, that the police are trailing them, and therefore began to enter the Bet HaMedrash, as if to pray. When Yeshayeh'leh encountered one of these people he wanted to draw him near, and began to study with him and talking about Holy Writ. The communist also was not found to be at fault…

It was from this that the Rabbi's little son was tripped up. He traveled off to Warsaw and immediately found a place with Itcheh'leh Juszson, Hillel Zeitlin and other important people.

It came to the point that, when his father the Rabbi passed away, and Frampol did not want to accept his son for the Rabbinical chair, Hillel Zeitlin got involved and wrote an article for ‘Moment’ under the title: ‘Jews of Frampol, why are you torturing your young Rabbi?’

Zeitlin strongly defended him. It could be that after his trip to Warsaw, the [deceased] father rummaged through his son's writings because it is said he said:

– If I knew how great my Yeshayeh'leh is, I would have provided him with more attention.

It was also said, that young son's travel was a cause that led to his father's death in that same year.

I encountered Yeshayeh'leh again in Lemberg. He was already a different person. Understandingly, he became one who returned to the fold, which I could tell from what he said, especially when I encountered him in a lodging place, where great Rabbis–refugees from Poland -- stayed. The lodging place was located on the Wolnaszczi Place, and was the residence of Lemberg's most prominent Mohel (I think his name was Greenberg). He had the most Kosher restaurant in Lemberg. It was there that Yeshayeh'leh the son of the Frampol Rabbi heard much from Rabbis and Torah.

[Page 103]

This was my last contact with this flowering young man with an open mind, of which I am certain that he became repentant.

It is not easy to portray the character of a man, who according to the Jewish assessment was full of contradiction. As an example, let us take R' Moshe Chana'leh's:

On one side – a Jewish man, an ardent Hasidic follower of the Rabbi of Rozwodow, and on the other side – a strong man, of whom the gentiles were afraid…

A situation once arose that hooligans wanted a little fun at the expense of the Jews, and R' Moshe went out into the street and together with additional young people began to murderously punch the perpetrators to the left and right.

He was the first Gabbai of the Hevra Kadisha and also of other groups. At the same time, he had connections to the nobility. As an adviser in the Gmina, he had access to the ruling authorities. He would often represent a needy Jewish man.

There were instances when he intervened with the police, or with the Burgomaster about individuals or about general things. There were times when he had to spend a night sitting with the representatives of the authorities, drinking a cup with them – until he reached his objective.

He was a community activist from hand to foot, and he gave his support everywhere generously, and the essences was – with his open Jewish heart. Despite being a Jewish man, he had a sense for worldly matters. He was the first one to bring a fiddle into the shtetl, in order to teach his children how to play. This was a major happening for us – and to no little extent, it elicited envy by other children of a house of balebatim.

R' Moshe was the formal guardian for the orphans and showed them a warm heart: he paid attention to how they were being raised, as if he was their real father. In general, he was tied into the young people, who loved him very much. His house was always full of young people.

Apart from this, he set aside a room for prayer, for the Rozwodow Hasidim, at no cost. He was willing to receive the Rabbis, who came to visit theshtetl, in his home, with all the privileges for entire weeks,

R' Moshe Weltczer was a mixture of young and old, of Hasidism and worldliness. However, he did all of this as a committed Jew in heart and soul.

Regarding his tragic end, it was told he was shot together with his parents and son Mekhl in the presence of his wife and the other children.

[Page 104]

Yekkl Feldscher (Bendler) and His Wife Reizeh'leh the Midwife

Yekkl Feldscher was a completely different sort of person, who served both the Jewish and non-Jewish populace with his medicinal knowledge, not paying attention to the fact that he was not a doctor.

It was difficult for him to integrate himself in such surroundings as Frampol, that inhaled religious Jewishness. Despite this, the family had only one objective as a goal: convey help for the entire populace of Frampol and the surrounding villages, for both Jews and non-Jews. Here it was necessary to deliver a baby, there to give someone a haircut and a shave, each one according to their taste: with sidelocks, or without sidelocks, a four-sided little beard, or to take the beard off entirely – all according to the demand…

If a rotten tooth needed to be extracted, or even simply to reduce pain, lighten a feeling, or write out a prescription, apply cupping – the address was: the Feldscher's.

It is no wonder that this family was respected by one and all. In addition, they were very approachable people, the Bendlers.

Reizel'eh the midwife – was a very clever woman. When she came to a house to deliver a baby, she would first say to the women, that they should stop jabbering…

Yaakov Bendler (feldscher), his wife Reizel'eh the midwife, and their oldest son, Janek

The good spirit of the feldscher with his wife could be traced back from the fact that they were always concerned with earning a living. Apart from that, they were actually quite hearty people.

Ignoring the fact that they were far-removed from piety, they were careful not to desecrate the Sabbath in public, did not open the barber shop on Saturday. They took into account the feelings of the Jewish populace.

If Yekkl'eh was called to a sick person on the Sabbath, he did not insist on being paid. He generally did not take money from a pauper.

His children were good violinists and every summer evening, when the shtetl went to offer the Mincha prayers, the fiddlers let themselves be heard with such heartfelt tunes, that those who hurried off to Mincha had to restrain themselves, lending an ear to the sweet melody (one must remember that there was no radio at that time in the shtetl). The young people especially would pause to hear

[Page 105]

the music, until the parents began to shout at us, that we should attend the Mincha service…

Carrying on their own lives, the Bendlers did not especially interest themselves in Jewish issues. They even did not show an interest in Zionism.

The one thing that tied them to their Judaism is that on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur they would come to attend Yizkor services at the synagogue.

On one occasion, a rumor spread about that the feldscher's eldest son, Janek, had become an ardent Zionist. He enters the organization, and becomes angry that they call him Janek, asking that he be called by his Jewish name, because he is Jewish like everyone else.

He began to collect money for the Keren Kayemet and other Zionist funds, and only make Jewish friends. In a word – he had become a new man.

The pious Jews would say of him: ‘One does not evaluate a Jewish soul, let him, of course be a Zionist, at least he is a Jew…’

It is therefore not surprising that Janek brought Jewish ideas and sympathies into his otherwise assimilated home.

It is necessary to add to all of this, that they absorbed costs for poor sick people, and provided assistance without any monetary compensation.

He was a Jew of the older type. He came from the nearby village of Kresziv.

It was nice to watch the elderly R' Yaakov Kislowicz walking in the street leaning on his stout cane. His long and spread-out beard and his patriarchal appearance left a strong impression on those who passed him by.

R' Yaakov elicited a respect due to an honored man. He was a scholarly Jew, sitting day and night and learned with such a beautiful melody that captured the heart.

This wise Jewish man was, for many years the Soltis of the shtetl, or better said – the representative of the Jewish shtetl in the Gmina and in front of the police. His wisdom was readily visible, when he would present a request on behalf of an individual and saved him from a trouble, a ‘zayencza’ or litigation.

[Page 106]

With great inner commitment he would represent Jews, when the tax collector came to request [the payment] of taxes. Learning that the endangered Jew has a bit of merchandise in his home, R' Yaakov would send someone to warn him that the tax collector was coming. It was in this fashion that the merchandise was rescued. There were times when the warning came too late. The Jew did not manifest a removal or hiding of the merchandise, then, as usual, R' Yaakov found a fresh trick, in order to confuse the mind of the tax collector.

In the most serious instance, R' Yaakov would personally guarantee the small amount of merchandise involved, so that the Jewish man could present it in a timely fashion. Meanwhile till some time later, he slipped a couple of Zlotys into the hands of the recipient and promised, that the tax will be cancelled in the Rathaus.

He argued with the tax collector that if they would confiscate the bit of merchandise, he and his children would perish from hunger.

The entire Gmina had a great deal of respect for him: the voyat, the recorder and all the officials in the Rathaus did this, despite the virulent anti-Semitism that existed at that time.

The Gmina would often take counsel with the Jewish Soltis about implementing important issues. The Christians valued his wisdom and experience. All of his efforts for the entire city were primarily for the Jewish populace.

He was one of the sort of Jews who is difficult to describe in writing. Only those who saw him praying, in the south corner of the Bet HaMedrash and listened to his subdued sighs and groans that emanate from his heart, were the only ones who could assess what kind of man he was.

A very poor man, beset with woes – that was Yekkl Lamed-Vovnik.

When the sorrowful well-known Hallerists entered Frampol, and permitted themselves to assault the beards of the helpless Jews, he suffered his worst fate.

Three bandits fell upon him in the street and beat him murderously, stepping on him with their boots for a long time, until they broke a hand and a foot. In an unconscious condition they let him lie in the street.

[Page 107]

When Yekkl'eh was taken to the hospital in Janow-Lubelski, nobody believed that the man would overcome his woes. However, his great faith caused along the way, that he emerged from the hospital alive, although he was crippled for the rest of his life: he dragged along a foot and a hand.

He could move a stone with his groaning and sighing. This Jewish man lived alone and had nothing to do with anyone, and never engaged in idle talk. He would go about the Bet HaMedrash and alerted the congregation to recite the line ‘Blessed be He, and Blessed be His Name.’ He did not allow for a single word to be uttered during the High Amidah – and all of this he did with such a full heart, that nobody could stand against him, and everyone immediately fell silent.

Once in my presence, someone dared to ask him:

R' Yekk'l, when one gives five Zlotys for an ‘Amen’ – one might intone afterwards.

R' Yekk'l then shouted out:

– What? I give away everything that I have for your ‘Amen’… do you then know how much an ‘Amen’ is worth? The world does not have enough to pay for it…

One felt that these were words coming straight from the heart.

The entire city treated him with respect, because he was taken to be a ‘Hidden One.’ Many believed he was a Lamed-Vovnik…

I want to pause for one additional Jewish man – Yehoshua Levinger. He was called ‘Crazy’ not because he was ‘God forbid’ [truly] crazy but rather because he would make others crazy… He was a scholarly Jew, loved to learn the interpretive commentary using the right melody, he applied two pair of phylacteries and while praying, did not leave out a single word. Starting from being an earner who gave charity, later on he became a loser and a great pauper. He was not in any position to feed his wife and ten children. Being entirely embittered, he became converted to communism. Not having read Marx and Engels, in his position and his arguments he led a communist agitation at every opportunity, even in the Bet HaMedrash, where he never ceased coming twice a day to pray, putting on his two pair of phylacteries and studying a chapter of commentaries using the right melody. He had no success with his agitation among pious Jews, and he had to work hard, in order to convince them that, when real communism will win out, he will not have to exhaust himself so much in order to feed his ten children, who will then be a blessing for humanity. Now, in a capitalist order, they are an excess burden.

[Page 108]

Once, I was standing in the Bet HaMedrash talking with Hersh-Chaim Hoff and Yaakov Schleicher. R' Nathan Hochrad then approached us – a miserly Jew of the most intense sort, and shouted, why is it that you no longer say ‘Blessed be He, and Blessed be His Name.’ Then R' Yehoshua began to lecture him:

– R' Nathan-David, you have three grown daughters to marry off, and you no doubt want to lead them under the [wedding] canopy?

He answers:

– Certainly, certainly, as an understanding person I know that without these two pieces of paper, which stand for a $200.00 dowry, that every prospective groom demands for a home, furniture and money to do business – no self-respecting young woman would get married.

– Certainly, certainly, imagine today: your girls love boys, who must, because they lack the two pieces of paper, find other means, which they have. Because of this, how many young lives have been made a misfortune? Then your daughters have to marry such men that are not worth a dowry…

So R' Nathan-David asks:

– What then should one do, R' Yehoshua?

– I say to you – let ‘the land become filled with knowledge.’ When communism will come, all of this will be put away. There will be no need for money. Everyone will be equal and make a living.

R' Nathan-David went away, very upset shaking his head and as a result forgot that for the entire time we didn't say ‘Amen’ even once.

But it was easy for him to embarrass pious and poor Jews, and like that, it went with difficulty in approaching the more worldly, and most of all, rich Jews. He had his greatest and most heated discussions with a rich Jewish man, and additionally well-prepared, who had already seen the world before his eyes - R' Meir Knoblich. Circles would gather around these two when they were having a discussion. It must be conceded that R' Yehoshua had the upper hand, because he saw the embodiment of world capitalism in this small-town rich man. He would approach the rich man with the following words:

Meir, what do you need all this money for? You can't wear more than one pair of boots, and a fur jacket, not to be bloated like a goose.

To this, R' Meir replied:

– Crazy Yehoshua, if I give it to you, I won't have it then, but I don't understand why you have complaints? You are wearing a pair of boots, food – you eat as well, what else do you want?

[Page 109]

R' Yehoshua answers him this way:

– Here is the difference between me, and a miser and you as a rich man, you wear boots in the winter, and half-shoes in the summer, you eat dairy on Shavuot and meat on Simchat Torah, and at my place – everything is exactly the opposite. I wear my heavy boots in the summertime, and in the winter the half shoes, on Shavuot I eat meat and on Simchat Torah I eat dairy kreplach. The reason is that before Sukkot, when I remain standing barefoot, so instead of setting out a pair of boots, I can use the money more effectively dealing in holiday merchandise. So, in the meantime, I buy myself a pair of cheap half-shoes. After the holiday, I provide myself with a pair of boots – and I pay them out until Passover, so I can put them on exactly for the summer. On the eve of Shavuot, when I come home from praying, my wife assaults me, that she doesn't have even a morsel of cheese for dairy kreplach, because cheese is now as expensive as gold. And Gittl, the small one, and is Moshe's, demands to be paid. By contrast, meat is quite inexpensive and there are no customers for it. Then I give her two Zlotys, and tell her to make a meat meal for Shavuot. By contrast, on Simchat Torah, when meat is expensive, and cheese is cheaper, I tell her to make a dairy meal for Simchat Torah. Now you can see that when the entire shtetl is wearing warm boots, I freeze my feet off in half-shoes; and in the summer, I overheat my feet in heavy boots. On Shavuot, when the world is eating dairy products, I eat meat kreplach. You let me catch cold and get sick, and later you by yourself have to run about and make a few Zlotys for the doctor. But if communism is adopted, I will dress and eat like you – to the season and time. Believe me, there was a time when I also had money, but then I was a bull, and sought only to gore someone: The true, good and elevated thoughts first came to me when I was a poor man. And you too, who today is worth twenty thousand Zlotys, parade around like a bull with two large and strong horns seeking to gore someone else… so do you want to have fifty thousand!

It is with such naive and simple arguments he was able to win over a couple of pious Jews to the communist ideal.

Translator's footnotes

1. The Hebrew word for leavened bread, or any foodstuffs deemed to contain a leavening ingredient, which was not to be eaten during the full eight days of the Passover holiday. Return
2. This is a frequently cited quote from Jeremiah 8:23 Return
3. This surname of SOLTIS is a Polish and Hungarian occupational name for an official who performed the duties of a magistrate or mayor of a village. The name is also spelt SOLTI and SOLTE. Return
4. Lamed-Vov is derived from the Hebrew counting system, where letters are assigned numerical values. Lamed-Vov is numerically 36. An old legend in Jewish folklore is that, The Lord endowed the world with 36 especially righteous men who study continuously. Their identities are actually unknown. The legend says that The Lord allows the world to exist because of these virtuous men. From time-to-time, people have surmised or supposed someone with these attributes may be among them. Return

We remember very well all of the decent and working Jews of the shtetl, who sometimes would work 16 hours a day, and sit overnight by their [sewing] machines, or in the shop, and with their sweat and toil, work for the bit of bread for themselves and their family.

I only would like to recollect few of these ‘salt-of-the-earth’ Jewish people:

The Honigmans were shoemakers during the winter and from the measly few Zlotys that they saved,

[Page 110]

leased orchards every summer in the village. They traveled there after Passover, when the very first blossoming could be seen on the trees, and remained there until after the Holidays. They lived the life of gypsies, sleeping and living in a booth, and with a thousand eyes be watchful that no on steals any of the fruit, and before dawn, when it was still dark, personally take the baskets of apples, pears, or plums, pails with cherries and wine grapes. There was not always an ‘auspicious year’. One was satisfied back then, if one managed to extract one's investment…

The shoemakers, Feiveh'leh Jaegerman and Ben-Zion Jaegerman, had many customers in the shtetl, living quite well, and married off their children.

Of all the tailors, Ben-Zion Waldman, had the reputation of being the best craftsman among the Jews and Christians alike. For a good piece of work, an item would be given only to Ben-Zion. The tailor Joseph-Yitzhak Royzer belonged to the old residents of Frampol. All of his sons followed their father in his trade. This was a genuine working home. Until the founding of the professional society of needle workers, all the young people who wanted to learn tailoring, could be found in Royzer's shop, where he kept an open door and an open heart. The Royzer family led a quiet and modest life. Joseph-Itzik passed away after an extended illness on a foot.

Yekhezkiel Hoff was one of the more prosperous shoemakers, and was very welcome in the circles of the balebatim. He was outstanding in charity and good-heartedness. Joel-Ber Ritman also had these same characteristics, who took care of his children very well; Henoch Reinzilber – the hatmaker; Itcheh-Leib Jaegerman the clothing merchant; Michael Ehrter, a tailor, who lived culturally, and was an active Zionist and sent his children to a Hebrew school.

As to bakers, it was known that they worked hard, but there is a living to be made. Moshe Bekher was one of the oldest bakers. He was well-known for taking in guests, with his nice house and the Tisch he put forth for the Sabbath and Holidays with a generous hand. Among the new bakers one finds Chaim Steinberg and Pesach Bryk, whose wife, Bracha, helped him out in the bakery. Their married children also supported themselves from the bakery – until the Holocaust.

The widow, Sarah Aszenberg ran a bakery with her children. We all knew that this woman was constantly overworked, exhausted and not getting enough sleep. People had a lot of sympathy for her. There was also a baker who was a poor man – Nathan-David. He had difficulty in scraping together the few Zlotys he needed to buy flour, in order to prepare the morning baked goods. He worked by himself with his children.

Simcha Aszenberg worked hard at his trade. But he strongly loved his book. When he began to read the Warsaw Zionist [newspaper] ‘Heint’ – It was difficult for him to be torn away from it. He was a fine, upstanding young man and was active in the Zionist movement.

Among the older tailors, it is appropriate to mention Azriel Blumer and Shmuel Blumer, the first – full of energy, a pedant, always happy, loved to tell himself jokes, even with young people. Of the large Blumer family – there were no survivors.

[Page 111]

Yankl Frampoler was known among the makers of galoshes. He was a Hasid from Warsaw, who every year traveled to the Rebbe and left a notable donation. He was a prosperous Jew, because the making of galoshes was not only a craft for him, but also – a business. Michael Frieling helped along with his own shop, and his wife, Chana-Pesha was the merchant. Her thorough command of leather working, just like her readiness to help with an act of charity for a needy Jewish person – was well-known in the shtetl. The Frieling Family lived a life of culture, they were active Zionists and sent their children to the Yavneh Hebrew school.

Yitzhak Frampoler and his wife Mindl ran a shop. This woman excelled in her attention to detail and work habits. From 9AM to10PM she would sit by the foot-operated sewing machine, and after a hard and long workday, did not neglect her duties as a homemaker, mother and wife. There were shoemakers, who required products from wives that only Mindl could fashion, that is the sort of master she was– the family made a steady living, were active Zionists, and sent their children to the Yavneh School.

One of the first weavers in the shtetl was Eizik Heifler with his children and Yossl Hoff. From the harness makers I remember Abraham'eleh Feiga's, Yekhezkiel Zalman and Yitzhak Czeneworcel. Just like all the other weavers, they worked only for the peasantry. Also the hat makers Henoch Reinzilber, Velvel Press and Lipa Weltczer, worked for the marketplace and the peasantry. They all made a good living from their trade.

Wolf-Ber Elbaum, making standard furniture, did this for the market, by contrast to Zeinvill Krykszer already took on private work and could make a decent piece of furniture.

Fur coats for the peasantry were made by the hat makers Gutman Ganz and Mendl-Ber Ganz.

I know that this list is incomplete, but I have recollected those whose names remained in my memory.

He was an observant and decent man, and was zealous about saying his prayers. He remains etched in my heart and memory, as if he were one of the family. As a child, I would constantly think about him, as if he was a member of our household. Even though he was blind he knew everything that was happening in our family and in the house. He knew where the bread was kept – and he would take a portion of it for himself to eat.

Mostly we wondered how he chopped wood for the shop – and such thin pieces, without hurting his hands even once. If something in the house broke, he repaired it. He also ran numerical lists quickly and well.

When my father would travel away for several days, Blind Shia helped my mother to run the shop.

[Page 112]

If the worker (a Pole) was tempted to steal whiskey and hide it – Shia immediately found where the stolen item was hidden.

Shia's wife died while very young and left him three little girls. One died while still young, the second was sickly, and the third most certainly went to America.

Blind Shia was a very interesting person in the shtetl, good, loyal and decent – but also unfortunate. His persona and memory of him has to be kept for eternity in our Yizkor Book.

It is the eve before Passover in Frampol. The wheat from which the matzos will be baked has already been ground [into flour] in the Jewish mill in Sokolovka under the strict oversight of the Rabbi. The shtetl is getting ready to bake matzos. The kneaders and dough rollers, baking people and those who pour water presented themselves as a complete unit. Tall Nota is readying himself to shovel in the matzos, treating it like a sacred task. Chaim the Water Carrier with his son Leibusz are also not missing. But the work doesn't start. There is no water! There is a bit of pandemonium, what does it mean? The father and son are present, and for some reason stand off to the side, talking loudly to one another loudly in the silence – but the four pails on both shoulders and also on the side, and immediately it is not them that are addressed…

It doesn't take a long time – and we learned that Leibusz has gone on strike. He wants a larger piece of bread that his father's, for helping him to carry the water, and if it is not forthcoming – there is no work. A strike!

All the complaining by his father and the other workers – are of no help. Leibusz is stubborn. That is, until a thought occurs to R' Chaim with which to warn his son, that he will take away his boots if he doesn't begin to carry water. Leibusz does not want to lose his boots. Resigned, he lifts up the pails and puts them on his shoulders – and father & son begin providing water. Frampol, God forbid, will not be left without matzos.

The two practically unknown Chaim and Leibusz, about nothing was said or heard all year long – became famous on that Passover eve and also later there were things to talk about and tell…

This couple were known in the shtetl because of the tall height of the Woman of Valor, and her short husband.

It is Simchat Torah in Frampol. Every Jew was happy in his soul. After the Holiday praying in the day, and after the Hakafot, the Jews go to their homes to make Kiddush, because they wanted to

[Page 113]

make themselves and others feel happy.

Little Shim'eleh prayed in the shtibl of the Linat-HaTzedek, at the home of Zeinvill-Mordechai. He came home after taking a ritual cup (making Kiddush?). As a Jew, being a happy soul, he calls to his wife, Tall Leah:

– My wife, I had the opportunity today… and I bought merchandise. I was given a gentlemanly recitation of ‘Atah Horeta…’

Tall Leah did not think for too long, put on her apron and went off to the Gabbai with a complaint:

– Where is the merchandise that my husband bought? I have come to take it. Do this quickly, because I have no time…

Our shtetl had this kind of personalities and types of people. They were naive, decent, and for this reason – unforgettable…

  Frampol, Poland     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2025 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 01 Jul 2025 by JH