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[Page 13]
A few young Zionists began to leave Grabowiec in the 1920s, and arrived in Palestine after many difficulties. In the 1930s, Zionist political parties and youth movements (HeChalutz, Dror, Beitar) started to send young pioneers who had undergone strenuous training in special Zionist camps in Europe.[1]
The first survivors from Russia arrived after World War Two. They contacted the Grabowiec natives who had become rooted in Palestine; the latter treated the new arrivals very warmly, opening their homes to them. One of these homes was that of the Mitler family in Kiryat Chayim (now living in Holon). We, too, enjoyed their hospitality, though we had not been acquainted previously.
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Haunted by profound sorrow and deep loneliness, the Holocaust survivors sought a goal to their lives, something that was worth living for. The survivors wanted to establish a warm Jewish environment and create a free life on Jewish land. They came to Palestine. Though the tree was cut down, its roots remained strong and full of vitality.
[Page 14]
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At about the same time, in 1946, the natives of Grabowiec in Israel began organizing. The first committee consisted of Yosef Nudel, Yitzchak Shneider, and Moshe Vald. We contacted the Society of Grabowiec Natives in America, headed by Chayim Pinchas Blaf, who extended moral and material help. Our first memorial observance was held at the home of Moshe Vald. Annual observances have been held ever since.
Beginning in 1947, dozens of families of Grabowiec natives started to arrive. They needed help urgently, as well as the ability to help themselves.
A well-attended meeting called in Tel Aviv in 1948 elected a new committee, consisting of Leybish Golomb, Baruch Eyns, Yisrael Hustik,[2] and David Erlich. We contacted Grabowiec native in other countries, as well as the Association of Polish Immigrants in Israel, and were able to create a Mutual Aid Fund.
Leybish Golomb was elected chairman of our association, and Baruch Eyns (may his memory be for a blessing) became chairman of the Mutual Aid Fund. We made tremendous efforts to assure the solvency of the Fund, in order to expand and increase mutual aid.
[Page 15]
During those early years, our female members Pearl Eyns and Chaya Lerner also began working with us. They visited all the homes of Grabowiec natives in Israel and checked their material circumstances, collected donations, and helped those who were in need. They aimed to extend help to all the needy.
As we mention devotion and readiness to help, the image of Chaya Lerner (may her memory be for a blessing) appears before our eyes. Her life was an unbroken chain of compassionate and charitable deeds.
By 1971, the Fund had granted about 250 loans to Grabowiec natives in Israel.
The Committee considers maintaining the connection between Grabowiec natives in Israel and those in other countries its main mission. Occasional meetings of members take place. Even though our members are occupied with work and various social responsibilities, they attend the meetings happily, and express interest in past, current, and future projects.
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Our first thoughts and acts were directed towards the deceased. Even those who had witnessed their dear ones being taken towards death did not want to give up their last glimmer of hope, and continued searching the lists of the Jewish committees that sprang up after the war, as well as asking every survivor how they had been able to stay alive and who their companions had been. Our survivors began traveling through the towns of Poland, where they met with wild hatred. That impelled them to leave Poland and go to Palestine, by way of Germany.
[Page 16]
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A few years ago, the Society in Israel, headed by Leybish Golomb, decided to publish a memorial book about the Grabowiec Jewish community. This was a demanding, responsible task, which required many helpers, and our Committee members volunteered for the mission.
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[Page 17]
They contacted the Grabowiec natives in Israel and in America. In addition to many technical duties connected with fundraising, we had to collect and prepare materials for the editorial board, and stay in constant touch with the editor.
If we have been successful, it is in large measure due to the volunteering spirit and responsibility of all the Committee members as well as the great help of the Grabowiec natives in the U.S., especially our fellow townsman Pinchas Blaf.
Many thanks to them all, and congratulations!
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Grabowiec residents who were fortunate enough to have survived the claws of the murderous dogs will read this book as a souvenir of their childhood years in our town, where their aspirations developed and they dreamed of better lives. Eventually, these dreams led to the creation of a full Jewish life in the State of Israel.
This memorial book is a monument to the memory of our martyrs: parents, brothers, and sisters who were exterminated by the Nazi enemy, a memory that is full of pain and sorrow for our fellow townspeople who died early and were unable to live as we do now.
For all our fellow townspeople, all over the world, may this book be a heart-and-mind connection with the diaspora of the “Grabowiec family.”
David Erlich
Yisrael Hustik
Moshe Vald
Translator's footnotes:
by Shimon Kantz
As we face the Grabowiec Memorial Book, we have contradictory experiences. On the one hand, it is a song of praise for our old home and the light it shed on its surroundings; on the other hand, it is a despairing description of the reign of nihility and the destruction; of the charm of our childhood home and the memory of our grandparents against the silent, inexpressible mourning of the soul that laments the people that were wiped out and gruesomely killed, a lament that is forever inscribed onto our bodies.
The combination of audacity and humility that accompanied the effort to mass together a great variety of sights and sounds into a single body of work was also an attempt to cram the experience into the words “The Grabowiec Community.” Everyday life was tedious, people were destitute, homes were simple, alleys were narrow, and poverty seemed to reign. But warm-hearted, intelligent people lived in the town. They developed ideas, had dreams, were active, and initiated action. Their dedication to an idea was whole-hearted. In spite of all the crises and upheavals, the community continued to exist and considered itself to be heir to the nation's cultural heritage. Not only did they continue to maintain the customs -- they also strengthened these cultural riches and expanded them. They led inarguably Jewish lives that were inseparable links in the chain of spiritual values they cherished.
A historian seeking a picture of a nation's history in miniature, or a writer wishing to create an epic work depicting a world that has disappeared, including all its shades and components, will find Jewish Grabowiec a suitable model. It embodied all the essential aspects of Jewish fate during the interwar period. All the patterns of life, all the winds of ideology and social movements, the culture shifts, conflicts between old and new, livelihoods, cheyder education, the Study House and the synagogue, weddings and parties, the achievements and the failures,
[Page 19]
daily habits, turns of phrase, traditions, and legends – the entire lively panorama of Jewish life during the interwar period could be found in Grabowiec.
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This colorful world is lovingly depicted in our book. The describers were part of the scene, and they were excited about presenting it in all its animation; detailing events, and bringing the descriptions to life so that future generations might identify with the world of their forefathers.
The Jews of Grabowiec did not live luxuriously; the only expense they allowed themselves was tuition. Even the poorest among them assumed this cost, often limiting their own consumption in order to pay the cheyder teacher, the melamed. Some even hired the best teachers for their children, though they couldn't really afford them. No price was too high for this service, so essential to Jewish life.
The teachers of the youngest children gained high status in Grabowiec; they were like priests who were entrusted with the parents' most precious possession:
[Page 20]
their children's bodies and souls, to ensure that they were educated in the Jewish tradition. Study in the cheyder lasted on average until 13, bar-mitzvah age, but many boys continued their studies by studying Talmud in the Study House or one of the yeshivas. Every man in Grabowiec absorbed the early childhood education that stays fresh into old age.
The girls of Grabowiec were educated mainly in their parents' home, where their personalities were shaped. Every Jewish mother imbued her daughter with Jewish faith and customs, as well as spiritual tenderness and love for Jewish tradition and family. The girls learned basic Jewish knowledge from their mothers. The impressive image of Mother spreading her open hands above the Sabbath candles on Friday nights was engraved on her infant daughter's heart. Reflections from the silver candlesticks inherited from previous generations made the modest home into a castle. The richly decorated candlesticks suffused the home with beauty. Lighting the Sabbath candles was a leap into a magnificent, noble world.
Just as fathers and grandfathers strove to emulate the patriarch Jacob, “who arrived safely” at the city of Shechem, and explained ‘safely’ as follows: “Shin: he guarded his name; Lamed: he guarded his language; Mem: he guarded his appearance”– the young men who began to adopt modern ways were careful to safeguard Jewish traditions that had been part of Jewish life for generations.[1] Although ideologies changed, the Jewish core remained firm. The different political and cultural movements in the town all considered their goal to be the preservation of Jews and the Jewish way of life.
This way of life continued to the very last day of the community's existence. This book evokes memories and impressions of past days, outstanding personalities; and shocking witnesses to the final roads of torture and devastation; institutions and leaders;
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serves as a monument to sorrow and agony, love and yearning; and a memorial to all the precious lives that were uprooted and destroyed by the malice of wanton murderers.
The value of the book lies in the lives it describes, and the Jewish soul its pages depict; all these are reflected in the life of the town, its features and qualities, history and daily routines, doubts and deeds of the residents, as they went about their lives and celebrated sacred occasions.
This will be of interest, not only to the natives of Grabowiec but also to anyone seeking information about the lives of Jews in a small town. Grabowiec was a lively town that sometimes seemed about to erupt as it tackled the problems of life in its own way and wove the tapestry of Jewish existence with enthusiasm and diligence.
The historian seeking material about the dreadful extermination will marvel at the shining pages of supreme Jewish heroism: the actions of Grabowiec natives on the front and with the partisan battalions. Only few survived, and their accounts in these pages are no more than a drop in the ocean of devotion above and beyond the call of duty. The documentary information presented here about underground activities inside Nazi-controlled areas amplifies our knowledge of
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Jewish resistance to the Germans. Erlich, Shisler, and Hustik are witnesses to these supremely heroic actions, and serve as live witnesses to those who were able to fight the enemy and displayed bravery in the midst of dark horrors and fear of annihilation.
This book includes documentation by witnesses, to remind us of what events of the past must be preserved for the future.
The natives of Grabowiec and their memoirs are highly engaging, such as those of Aryeh Golomb, Eliezer Eyns, Efrayim Lerner, Mordechai Blaf, S. Kreitman, and others. A simple charm emanates from the accounts written by the following community activists: David Erlich, Yisrael Hustik, and Moshe Vald, who were young firebrands and have in the meantime grown gray-haired. Each one had his own memories and experiences, style and sources. Reading them paints a rich picture of a complex world. As we read them, we become acquainted with our own past and gain access to our own beginnings.
Finally, the editor would like to thank all the members of the Book Committee who helped him gather material and shepherd it through to publication. Special mention is due to L. Golomb, D. Erlich, H. Blaf, Y, Boym, Y. Hustik, and M. Vald, whose help was invaluable. They activated and inspired others as they undertook the most responsible work with great dedication.
The members of the Book Committee acted in coordination. The book was completed thanks to their encouragement and collaboration.
I would also like to thank all those who contributed their work to the book. They provided descriptions and memories of their forerunners' lives as well as the activities of the community institutions. These memoirs were written in the blood and fire of the dreamers and activists who inscribed a shining page that will live forever in the history of our nation.
Translator's footnotes:
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