Rzeszow, Poland
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{Page 172}
I joined the Hashomer movement, which was established at that time in Lvov by Dr. Sterner, when I was sixteen. In those days, chapters did not yet exist. There were groups of scouts who dedicated most of their time to scouting activities. The true and fundamental youth movement of that time was the Young Zion movement. That youth movement imparted Jewish and Hebrew literature, and delved deeply into the development of a Zionist Weltanschauung. It published its own newspaper, called “Moriah”.
A year later, when I was seventeen, the war broke out. We fled from the Cossacks, and I arrived in Vienna. I had already begun my public career in Rzeszow as a librarian in Young Zion. In 1916 in Vienna, the two above mentioned youth groups, Young Zion and Hashomer, joined together into one movement. The new movement took the first part of its name from Hashomer, and the second part of its name from Young Zion (Tzeirei Zion), and thus was Hashomer Hatzair born [1] . It was not only the name that we took from the two movements. Each movement brought something of its essence with it. We took from Hashomer the inclination to scouting, the love of nature, and the affinity with Hashomer in the Land of Israel. From Young Zion, we took the cultural and ideological leaning.
I remember evenings with the new movement, where we discussed the literature of Mendele Mocher Sefarim, Y. L. Peretz, and Hassidism.
On the other hand, the new movement was influenced by the German youth movement that was active in those days. This movement exhibited an independent youth culture, and was heavily influenced by the philosophy of Nietzsche. Not a long time passed before their youth revolution became perverted and corrupted, so that it took on a self-serving and power oriented format. It continued to degenerate until it came to Nazism. As they became corrupted, we distanced ourselves from their influence, thanks to our special roots as Jewish pioneering youth.
After the revolution of 1918, I returned from the Austrian front to Vienna and became the head of the Hashomer Hatzair chapter. In those days, that was the central chapter, and it numbered approximately 700 members. Those people that stood at the helm of the movement brought with them the spark of enlightenment and idealism. The scouting inclination slowly became intertwined with personal fulfillment and realization of our goal - with pioneering!
When I was 21 years old, the first convention of Hashomer Hatzair took place in Galicia, without my presence. I wrote a letter to that convention, with the motto: “First and foremost – the hands!!!” I complained against the eternal-Sabbath, and lauded with vision and song the six days of toil that precede the Sabbath. I wanted to give the precedence of birthright to those that use the axe, the hoe, and produce with the work of their hands! This was my message to the first convention.
After two years of directing the movement in Vienna, I left my studies, gave over the leadership to others, bid farewell to my charges, and went to actualize for myself that which I preached to others. We were eight boys and one girl, who got up one winter morning, left Vienna, and went to work for a Jewish farm owner. The cold reached ten degrees. In that farm, there was a patch of beets that had to be removed from the frozen ground, as well as straw that had to be bundled up with a hand roller. We worked with such diligence that we did not feel the cold at all, and we even took off our shirts. At night, we slept together in one large room. The girl who was with us slept in a small room next to us. At first we had hoped that she would help us prepare food; however it became clear to us that she did not even know how to make a cup of tea…
The goal was to make aliya to the Land of Israel. A short time later, some of the counselors who had left the chapter asked me to stand at the helm of a group that was preparing to make aliya to the Land. We wandered around from port to port for days and weeks, until we finally set foot on the beach of Jaffa.
This was the first incursion of pioneers after the First World War. They brought with them much romanticism, nonchalance, stubbornness, and willingness to engage in difficult work.
I must stress a second central point: this movement of national revival arose in the time of great social upheaval. Since the 1905 revolution in Russia, all of the waves of pioneering aliya brought with them the idea of national freedom along with social freedom, and an affinity with the world Socialist movement.
Furthermore: The essence of the pioneer bore with it national and social liberation which came from itself, and a renewal of personal life down to the roots. This is what gave birth to the idea of the Kibbutz. The dream of the Kibbutz accompanied the second and third aliya, and accompanied us for the entire duration of the half-century that followed.
Even though I have become old and satiated with challenges and wanderings – I am not able to forget the beautiful memories, so rich in content, from the splendid era of the Hashomer Hatzair movement, of which I was a member from age twelve.
I remained in Rzeszow for only a short time, approximately ten months. However, my first steps when I arrived in that city took me to the local chapter of the movement. In truth, this was the movement with 'the' definite article, as the youth called it in those days. Its headquarters were called “Hamaon” (“the den”) or “lokal”.
In those days, Rzeszow was blessed with an active Jewish life, and excelled in successful activity in all branches of life, including commerce, industry, artisanship, as well as in the fields of education and culture. The Jewish population was alert to all that transpired in the entire Jewish and non-Jewish world in the realms of politics and ideas. The fact that it was a large commercial center situated between the east and the west helped with this. The central train station was bustling at all times of the day. The majority of the travelers were our Jewish brethren who were going out afar on account of their business.
It was natural, therefore, that Rzeszow served as a cultural and educational center, thanks to the secular and Torah oriented educational institutions that were located there in great number. The voice of Torah could be heard from its quarters until a late hour in the night. This came from the dozens of yeshivas and private houses of the Jews of Rzeszow, where Torah scholars gathered and diligently occupied themselves with the spreading of Torah to the younger generation as well as the simple folk.
From a Jewish perspective, this city served as a faithful example of the blending of two paths: from a strong base of traditional knowledge that was accompanied by the well rooted national feeling of the Jews of eastern Galicia, and on the other hand, the acclimatizing to the way of life of the surrounding culture and the spirit of progress that characterized the Judaism of western Galicia. As a native of eastern Galicia, I was surprised to hear in the street the Polish language coming from the mouths of thick bearded Jews, who used the language flawlessly. The Jews were able to earn their livelihood, and it is possible to say that material wellbeing and Torah were the lot of the majority of the Jewish population. This was a period of the flourishing of the young economy of the reconstituted Poland after the years of depression and inflation that prevailed during the first years of independence. It was to that Rzeszow that I arrived during the time of the long vacation in the year 1924.
As a two-year veteran of the movement, I joined the local chapter. I became part of the young organization, to a group whose members for the most part abandoned the desk of the student in order to learn a trade from one of the many workshops in the city.
The “maon” (“den”) was at that time in the yard of one of the houses on the main street, the Third of May (Panska), in the house of Mr. Moshe Gleicher. There were three rooms, a large room that served as the presentation hall for the “Toynbee Hol” group, a smaller inner room that served as the location of a Jewish-Polish library and later as the meeting place for the academic Maccabia group, and a porch that served as the headquarters of the chapter.
Until this day, the names of most of those who were in my group are etched in my memory: The head of the group was a person for whom I would later work during the course of many years, from 1930 until the outbreak of the war, this was my master and teacher who was revered by all of his charges, Janek Geiger of blessed memory. In my opinion, he had no second in terms of his great influence upon the development of the character of the youth who were organized in this movement, as well as on the development of its ideals. He was one of the few members of this movement in our city who knew Hebrew, at a time when most of the members of the local leadership of the chapter spoke only Polish, and all of the educational and cultural activity, aside from the drill exercises, was conducted in the Polish language.
{Photo page 174: “Hashomer Hatzair” group in 1928. Sitting from right: Yitzchak Shifman, Frieda Berger, – , –, Tzvi Wichselbaum. Second row from right: Berta Gotlieb, –, Shimon Bilevi, Sliwka, –, –, Tzila Kurtzman. Standing from right: –, –, Yosef Wachspress, Mundek Auerbach, Menachem Wang.}
If my memory does not lead me astray, the following, among others, were members of the leadership of the group: Paula Kaplaner, Hela Rosenman, Hela Kramer, Zwirn, Nathan Wistreich, Munek Metal, Tzvi Wichselbaum, and others. My group was composed of the following members: Shlomo Wallach, Shmulik Gotlieb, Yehoshua Stierer, Moshe Lifschutz, and Nachman Lieber (the brother of the teacher Anshel Lieber). There were also other members whose names I have forgotten. Aside from these, there was a group of older youths, comprised of members who were preparing for aliya and realization of the goals of the settlement of the Land of Israel.
Even though I later belonged to a movement that stood on the other end of the multi-colored spectrum of Zionist youth, I admit with all sincerity that there has never arisen a movement with such pure nationalistic ideas, where the love of one's fellow Jew and the love of one's fellow human was cultivated in all its cultural, traditional and nationalistic activities as the Hashomer Hatzair movement in that era. This movement was the only address for complete nationalistic education for the Jewish youth to prepare them for their role in the Land. It seems to me that all of the Jewish youth movements in the years prior to the Second World War, graced with experienced and able counselors, owe a debt of thanks to Hashomer Hatzair, the movement in which the vast majority of these counselors were trained.
Our group would gather together twice or on occasion thrice per week at 8:00 p.m., and we would spend two or three hours together in our narrow room with our counselor, in order to hear from his mouth descriptions of collective life in the Land; on the accomplishments in turning the uncultivated soil into agricultural land; on the ideal character of the Jewish person, a worker of the land who lives from the work of his hands, free from the customs and complexes of the exile, brave in the face of difficulty and danger; and on the formation of a new society, etc. We knew that the day was not far off when we would be able to help our brethren in their endeavors.
We would discuss educational problems. We were quite busy with scouting. We organized hikes outside the city, along the length of the Wislok River. In the darkness of the night, we would light bonfires and sit around them, singing songs of the Land of Israel in Hebrew, scouting songs in Polish, and songs written by local songwriters in Polish and Yiddish. We would often dance the Hora. These were moments of transcendence from the realities of the exile, when our thoughts would be lifted far away to the banks of the Jordan and the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), of which we used to dream and sing frequently.
It occurred more than once, after a hike of nearly one hour duration in the snow and ice from places such as Pobitno, Wygnaniec, and Ruska Wies, that we would find our den closed and bolted, locked because of our failure to pay the rent. It was only due to the expertise of Shlomek, who was expert in the art of locksmithing, that we succeeded in entering to our den, which was cold and gray since the power had been cut off. We would sit down and read the Hashomer pamphlets that were published in Polish by the central committee of Lvov, or we would read chapters of Alt-Neuland of Herzl, or Auto-Emancipation of Pinsker, etc. We would sit down, read and discuss to the light of a candle, and later we would accompany our counselor Janek to the river at the end of Lwowska Street.
Today, after years of dreams and struggles, after the tragedy of the Holocaust, it is possible to say with utmost sincerity that this movement registered splendid pages in the annals of the rebirth of the nation and the settlement of the desolate Land. May G-d and the nation of Israel remember the pioneers of the rebirth of Israel.
May G-d and the nation of Israel also remember my counselors and friends who erred in the paths of their lives, were seduced by illusions, and did not live to witness the actualization of the idea to which they devoted the best of the days of their youth.
I was a member of the Hashomer Hatzair chapter in Rzeszow between the years 1928 and 1935, the year in which I made aliya to the Land. This was the duration of my youth. Until today, I regard this era as the source of all that is good and upright.
It is true that as we become adults we tend to forget the shadows and only emphasize the light in our childhood and youth, and therefore the picture becomes distorted. However, this was not the case regarding our lives in the chapter.
This was a one-time occurrence, a result of special historical circumstances, an occurrence that will never occur again.
But it certainly did happen!
Our eyes, the eyes of youthful boys and girls such as myself, were opened to a complex and tortuous world.
These years were the years of political and economic crisis in Poland. There were demonstrations of the workers and Communist youth in the streets. There were the whistles of the police, armed with live weapons. There were injuries and deaths.
The old castle of Pod Kasztanami, which served as a prison, was filled to the brim with political prisoners. The newspapers and literature spoke about a crisis in family life.
The economic depression affected the Jews first and foremost. There was a wave of bankruptcies among the large-scale Jewish merchants. This wave caused another wave, and the small-scale merchants and artisans were also affected.
There was no contentment in the home of parents. The pursuit of livelihood swallowed up the adults. We, who were no longer children but not yet adults, wandered around in our parents' homes.
The Chapter of Hashomer Hatzair in Rzeszow fought a difficult, serious, and stubborn struggle for its existence.
Our worldwide movement followed the path of Socialist Zionism, and trained its members for the personal actualization of pioneering life in the Land.
This was a difficult and unpopular path. In the eyes of the Communists, we were servants of imperialism. In the eyes of the general Zionists from the right leaning streams, we were Communists. In the eyes of the Revisionists, we were traitors.
Internally – aliya to the Land stopped completely from time to time. At the best of times, only a small number of permits were issued.
What type of advice could we possibly give to the older members of the chapter, who had passed the age of twenty, who were required to leave the home of their parents and start out in “life”? We disapproved of life here. Only a stubborn faith that there is no other path – despite everything.
Despite our young age and our lack of experience in communal activity, we were active in all of the Zionist institutions in Rzeszow. We were also prominent in the cultural life of the Jewish community, through our plays, debates and parties.
We had a rich library with numerous good works of fiction and scientific books. The library served only the members of the chapter.
Each year, we would go out to a summer retreat (moshava), where we knew how to combine the romantic experience of night hikes and broad educational activity.
{Page 176}
{Photo page 176: Meeting on the banks of the Wislok River in 1929.}
The chapter had its headquarters in the home of Mr. Apfelbaum, a Jew of fine appearance with a full beard. It was a two-story house on a noisy, narrow, closed off alley between the Rynek and the Rozanka. At first, I was careful that none of my father's acquaintances should see me going to the den. I would enter one of the thoroughfare houses that were behind the statue of Kosciuszko. There were dark and dirty entrances, a fine place for a drunk to lay down to sleep or for a couple to make love (the village-girl who was a maid on the top floor and a soldier in uniform). I ran to the other side with my heart pounding from fear, quickly passing by the low house of the Wald family, the parents of Meir Yaari. I was accompanied by the voices of those praying the Maariv (evening) service in one of the nearby Shtibels. I jumped up a few stairs, and suddenly I found myself in a different world.
There were two or perhaps three small rooms. The chapter at that time had about 200 members.
There was much noise, tumult, and conversation in the rooms. Groups of boys and girls sat in each corner, with their backs toward the center of the room and their faces inwardly turned to their circle, surrounding their counselor.
From the partial sentences that one could make out coming from all corners, one would immediately realize that in one of the older groups, one of the members was lecturing about Fourier's Utopia, Group Mem was reading Fierberg's “Le'an” (“To where”), and in the oldest group, they were discussing the Arab question. The counselor of Group Chet was reading the “Yizkor” (the book of the Shomrim) to her group. It did not bother anyone that in the next room, a group of girls was singing “How Pleasant are the Nights of Canaan” in a clear voice. Another counselor was teaching her group to dance the Hora. Here everything was clear, sparkling, and certain.
We did not enjoy ourselves in the bright rooms with large windows in Apfelbaum's house for long. In his eyes, we were more or less Apikorsim (heretics). From there, we moved to the cellar in the home of the Zucker family, at the end of Lwowska Street, on the road that led to the bridge over the Wislok River. The windows in the rooms of that den were broken, and the few furnishings were damaged. In the winter, we sat in unheated rooms, for we did not have the means to purchase fuel; or perhaps we were negligent and did not concern ourselves with order and comforts.
There too, our lives hummed with discussions, presentations and drawn out enthusiastic debates. We debated all the world's problems. We touched on all the pains of society: Capitalism, Socialism, the problems of women and families, love, and education of children. We read Weininger, Nietzsche, Freud, Adler, Hegel and Marx. We occupied ourselves with the problems of the Land and the Kibbutz: communal life, the Arab question and the workers' movement in the Land of Israel. Indeed, we were members of Hashomer Hatzair, and we were taught its ideological principals – however the world outlook of each of us had to be based not upon what was given from above, but rather on independent learning and education. We discussed how to change our personalities (at the time, we discussed a great deal the small bourgeois character) to meet the challenges of the life of labor and collectivism of the Shomrim in the Kibbutz in the Land of Israel.
In the summer, the new hall of our chapter in the Zucker home turned into a veritable Garden of Eden in our city Rzeszow. We were close to the Wislok River. We would sit for a long time along its banks on summer evenings after our activities, and we would sing Ukrainian “Dumkas” (folk songs), sections of opera, songs of the Land, and especially songs of love and longing, accompanied by the rolling of waves and the blowing of the night wind upon the willow trees. The nights were lit by the light of the moon…
When the new Tenenbaum Jewish communal house was built, the rooms on the ground floor were given to the Jewish youth movements. We also moved our chapter to the new place. There, the active landlord was Mr. Metal, a man of stature who chastised us with a harsh hand if we were making too much noise and disturbing the newspaper and periodical readers in the reading hall.
Even now, as I look back to the times in the previous generation, I knew that our lives received their true meaning only in those evening hours at the den.
Our parents would ask: “What will the purpose be? How long will this go on for?” They spoke in the name of practical life wisdom, in the name of realism. They thought that our den was the place of our dreams, where we fled from life. But we knew and felt that this was the real life, the life that holds the key to continuity and the future.
Those wise people, those practical people, they did not realize that the Jewish city of Rzeszow, with its stores, merchants, struggling homeowners, poor people, small scale manufacturers and artisans – did not at that time have a grip on reality. Rzeszow at that time already resembled a picture of Chagall. Everything was flying in the air. Everything was covered in a cloud. However who could imagine, even with the most frightening nightmares, what was still to come.
These were Jews that had dreams!
How was it that you did not see the reality that peered out from every open gate, from every dark alley?
Had you known, and had you agreed with us, would we have been able to help you?
The gates of the Land were locked, guarded by bayonets and British warships. But you, Pepa, Anna and Emma, and you Chaim, Yosef and Mundek, you dear boys and girls, how were you able to think that “even here it is possible to live”, or “the Land cannot absorb all the Jews”. Why did you not take any opportunity for aliya, legal or illegal, to the one place where you belonged. You could have lived among us, among those that establish the walls and towers in the Kibbutzim, among the tillers of the fields of Ein Hamifratz, among those who harvest the flowerbeds of Kibbutz Hamaapil.
You, who could have walked in the evenings among the fields of poppies and chrysanthemums, who could have breathed the clear spring air, you could have loved, lived, lived – – –.
The Hashomer Hatzair movement took root also in Jewish Rzeszow. The studying youth, the working youth, or the ordinary youth from well-to-do homes belonged to it. Our activities were kept secret for quite a long period, whether due to the governing officials of the city who did not regard us as Jewish scouts, or with regard to the parents who objected, for their children went out to agricultural summer settlements for hachsharah purposes with the intention of making aliya to the Land…
Our headquarters (the lokal in Polish) was in the basement of Zucker's home in the outskirts of the city. The youth would come there in the hundreds despite the difficult conditions.
With the establishment of Beit Haam, which served as the cultural center for the Jews of the city, the conditions improved. All of the youth movements received space there. The nice reading room also helped a lot. Zionist life was very active then, and we, the youth, took an active role in all meetings, fundraising campaigns for the Keren Kayemet, cultural activities, etc.
The aliya of youth that picked up during the 1930s had an influence in the Jewish street. I remember very well the mass demonstrations of adults and children who accompanied those who were setting out to the Land of Israel. There are many Rzeszow natives in Kibbutzim in Israel. The distinguished leader of Hashomer Hatzair, Meir Yaari, and his brother Tuvia, live in Merchavia. There are also Rzeszow natives in Ein Hamifratz, Nir David, Hamaapil, etc.
The era was 1919-1920, the beginning of the Third Aliya. At that time, 620 Shomrim made aliya from Galicia, including a significant number from Rzeszow. At that time the leadership, the founders of the movement, made aliya, with Rzeszow natives taking an honorable place. These included my brothers Moshe and Meir Yaari. There were also Rzeszow natives included among the founders of Kibbutz Beit Alfa, the first of the Shomer Hatzair Kibbutzim, which was founded in Gush Nuris (among them was Shlomo Horowitz).
The chain broadened from the first aliya wave to the second aliya wave: in 1926, Kibbutz Galicia Alef made aliya [2] . This was known as Kibbutz Herzliya in the Land. This group included several members from our city. This Kibbutz was among the first builders of the Herzliya Moshava. They moved from place to place until they settled permanently in Merchavia. The stops along the way included Herzliya, Zichron Yaakov, Gidro, Reishit, Mifratz Haifa and Haifa. In 1929, at the end of the bloody disturbances, they arrived in Merchavia. The stream of aliya from Hashomer Hatzair of Galicia grew. They arrived in the land along with members of Hechalutz of Galicia. The lion's share of counselors of that movement came from Hashomer Hatzair. Most of them settled in Moshava Nes Ziona.
This was, so to speak, the Kibbutz territory of Hashomer Hatzair of Galicia, of which a recognizable number came from Rzeszow. The Hashomer Hatzair Kibbutz of Nes Ziona is today Kibbutz Mizra in the Jezreel Valley. For the most part, those who made aliya from Hashomer Hatzair of Rzeszow settled in Ein Hamifratz and Tel Amal. This era was 1933-1939, the Nazi nightmare could already be felt in the air, and it sealed, by 1939, the aliya of Hashomer Hatzair members from Rzeszow.
As an alumna of Hechalutz of Rzeszow, I will attempt to write down some memories of Hechalutz in our city. I will focus on the era that I know the best, between the years of 1930-1933.
Even though the ideology of Hashomer Hatzair and Hechalutz were similar, and there was full cooperation between the two groups, there were great differences between these two movements. Members of Hashomer Hatzair came to the movement for the most part from the academic youth, while members of Hechalutz were for the most part working youth, apprentices and artisans. In the conditions that prevailed at the time, those youth were tied to their place of work from morning to night. This prevented them from participating in various communal activities.
Similar to other movements, the Hechalutz chapter was located in the Tenenbaum Beit Haam. There was also a chapter of Hashomer Hatzair there. Even though each chapter conducted separate activities during the week, every Saturday night, we had a joint activity with the older members of Hashomer Hatzair, who had finished their hachsharah and were preparing for aliya.
The working youth who were immersed in their work all week would find a pleasant corner for friendly enjoyment in the den, in an environment of education for pioneering and aliya. Our counselors were for the most part alumnae of Hashomer Hatzair. The main activities took place on Sabbath evenings. These included group discussions, lectures, and parties.
On occasion, we would walk as a group on Sabbath eves to the hall of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael to listen to the interesting lectures given by Dr. Freilich on “the education of Jewish youth”. At the conclusion of the lecture, there would be debates between the representatives of the various streams. The older members of Hechalutz were organized into kibbutzim [2] for aliya (at the time there were the Kibbutzim Avoda Alef and Avoda Beit). The kibbutzim of Hashomer Hatzair and Hechalutz were united. The hachsharah location of Hechalutz was in Prokocim-Krakow-Plaszow. The work included both skilled and unskilled labor. Some of the girls worked in a shoe factory.
The purpose of the work of the movement was to educate toward a practical realization, which would bring many members of the chapter to aliya. Many of the Hechalutz alumnae joined Hashomer Hatzair kibbutzim in Israel. Some of them today fill central roles in their kibbutzim or in other communal endeavors.
Even those Hechalutz members who made aliya as individuals still look back fondly upon the time that they were affiliated with the movement that influenced each of them in a positive, personal fashion.
I remember for the good my counselor Yosef Brickner of blessed memory. We had great support in the work of our movement from the visits of representatives from the Land, including Meir Yaari and Yedidya Sliwka.
I remember the “flower days” for the benefit of the Keren Kayemet and the great competition among the various youth groups for the prize given to the group that raises the most money. We would collect money in the Market Square. Immediately, the canvassers competed for the best place to gather donations (next to the Kosciuszko statue, across from the courthouse. It was well known that the judges, lawyers, and other people visiting the courthouse would donate generously).
We were helped greatly in these activities by Dr. Schmelkes, Dr. H. Kanarek, and primarily by Mrs. Chana Kahane, who followed our activities with great appreciation. These people also helped us in our activities on behalf of “Keren Ezra” (“The Assistance Fund”), which supported the pioneers who were having difficulty in paying the expenditures needed for aliya.
To the masses of Russians who were under the yoke of the Czarist government, the revolution of 1905 served, from a political point of view, as an important milestone in their struggle for equal rights. On the other hand, the Russian revolution served as a wake up call for the Jews of Galicia, the masses of Jews, who were citizens of the tolerant Kaiser Franz Josef, to join the movement that fought for equal national rights.
The Jewish population of Rzeszow, which numbered at the time approximately 12,000 souls, consisted for the most part of artisans and small-scale shopkeepers. The Jews played an active role in the professional organizations of which they were members, including in the leadership of the Polish Socialist Workers Party (P. P.S.), which was an illegal organization at that time. However, already at the early stages of the activity of the Polish Socialist Party, anti-Semitic tendencies were seen in the midst of the Polish masses. They related negatively to the nationalistic desires of the Jewish workers. Therefore, groups of Jewish artisans and workers began to leave the Polish Socialist Party and founded their own organization. Thus did the “Yad Charutzim” organization arise. It encompassed small-scale artisans, such as tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, coopers, tinsmiths and others. The masses of poor artisans and workers often demonstrated on the streets demanding equal rights. Calls against the rule of the Austrian Kaiser could be heard from the mouths of the demonstrators, for despite his liberal attitudes, he did not prevent the economic and social deprivation. Years and years passed in this manner until the First World War. When the Austro Hungarian Empire disbanded after the First World War, chaos pervaded in the city and neighboring towns. Many of the Jews of Rzeszow joined the Polish Legion under the command of Pilsudski, with the hope that in return for their participation in the battle for an independent Poland, the Jews would benefit from full rights of citizenship. However, the disappointment of the Jews was great: the new Polish laws promised equal rights for the Jews, but the government discriminated against them.
Many of the Jews of Rzeszow played an important role in the cause of Polish independence. Testimony to this fact can be seen in the rights that were granted to the Jewish soldiers of the Polish legion, the benefits that were given to those wounded in the battle for Polish independence, and the high awards that were given to Jews personally by Marshall Pilsudski several years after the Polish war of independence.
Within a few years of the establishment of independent Poland, the Jewish community of Rzeszow became fragmented from a political and social perspective. Various parties and factions arose, spanning the spectrum from the extreme right of Zionism to extreme factions under the influence of the Kremlin of Moscow.
Many factors influenced the growth of the Zionist movement in Rzeszow, which covered many groups among the Jewish population. However, there were also many reasons that acted to limit its flourishing: the gates of the Land of Israel were closed by the hostile Mandatory authorities, and the zealously Orthodox [3] people objected to the Zionist idea. The Orthodox forbade their children to participate in the Zionist youth organizations. Those who were brazen enough to participate in the Zionist youth organizations would sometimes be excommunicated or expelled from their families.
The economic depression in Poland from 1928-1933 affected the Jewish minority significantly, especially those involved in business and the trades. The Jews were accustomed to economic and political changes and fluctuations in those days. The Polish Communist party strengthened in the wake of the depression. This party had great influence on the Jewish youth. They were enchanted by the extreme slogans of the Communist party, which promised to bring redemption to the people through revolution. Several members of Hashomer Hatzair [4] followed this path, left their organization, and became manual workers. They worked in setting up the public sewage system in the city, and aroused the resentment of the Polish workers, who saw the young Jews, the children of merchant families, as competitors who took over their jobs.
The Jewish left was caught up in the subversive trap of the left wing organizations. Throughout the world, organizations for human rights arose, which served as fronts for the work of the extreme left. Such an organization was founded even in our city. A portion of the youth who became enthused with the idea of the freedom of nations and equal rights, became caught up in these schemes, such as the “National Front”. When the Spanish revolution broke out, the Jewish Communists spread out their net onto all of the Jewish organizations. Some of the youth left the ranks of the nationalist youth.
I visited Rzeszow one day in 1936 in order to visit the grave of my father and mother of blessed memory. There I found out that my friend, one of the founders of Hashomer Hatzair in Vienna in 1916, the lawyer Dr. David Cohen, lived in Rzeszow. I went to visit him, and to my surprise I heard that he was one of the Jewish Communist leaders. I knew him in Vienna as an enthusiastic Zionist, hoping for the actualization of humane Socialism in the Land of Israel, a fan of Jewish and Hebrew culture. And behold he left the Shomer Hatzair movement along with a good part of the youth, and joined the Communist movement in the faith that that movement would put an end to Jew hatred, would bring redemption to the masses, would put an end to wars, and would bring brotherhood to all nations. It would seem that he would have changed his mind had he remained alive.
In the 1930s, Jewish young people from well-to-do families, children of merchants, manufacturers, and the free professions, worked secretly for Communism. The Polish police raided them every year before the first of May and tortured them. Many left prison broken, wounded, and severely ill. I recall that Mundek Auerbach died in prison. His funeral took place in Rzeszow, and was turned into a mighty demonstration by the supporters of this movement and the friends of this brave boy. These young people joined efforts with the Polish Communists of the area, headed at the time by Gomulka, who today serves as the head of the party in Poland.
With the outbreak of the war in September 1939, many of the Jewish Communists fled to Russia or worked underground as partisans. Those who remained alive did not return to Rzeszow, which remained without Jews, but rather live in Warsaw, the Polish capital. They play an important role in the makeup of the government, in the economic ministry, in the army, in the administration, in journalism, etc. Members of old Rzeszow families, such as the children of Hirsch Wistreich the merchant and exporter of hides, members of the Alster and Tuchman families, the son of Dr. Wilhelm Hochfeld (who was the head of the community as a representative of the assimilationists and Hassidim), and the son of Eliahu Wang (one of the Zionist activists of our day) now serve as heads of central divisions in the Polish government, and oversee economic, industrial, and building divisions, etc. Some of them changed their Jewish names and took on Slavic Polish names in order to hide their origin. They remained faithful to Gomulka for a long time. However, many of the Jewish Communists from Rzeszow, who were zealous Stalinists, were forced to leave their positions in the Polish “October Revolution” in 1956, and spread out to various foreign lands. Some even found refuge in Israel.
{Bottom photo page 181: Hanoar Hatzioni in Rzeszow.}
Baldachowka was the name of the street where I lived, where my memories are knitted together from the nicest part of my life, during my childhood and youth. That neighborhood, which was dear to me and many others like me, was turned into a ghetto during the war. The Jews were concentrated there from the entire region, and were liquidated in an orderly fashion.
Baldachowka, Rozanka, Slowacki, and Garncarska were streets that were teaming with Jewish life. There were synagogues and houses of well-known rabbis. To this day, the neighborhood and its residents stand before my eyes. I especially remember the evenings of Sabbaths and festivals, when everyone was dressed up in their festive clothes, and the light of the candles flickered from the windows… The offices of Hanoar Hatzioni, Akiva and Betar were also in that area of town. The center of sporting life for the Jewish youth – Bar Kochba – was also there. We were always proud that we had Jewish sportsmen who were able to watch over our self-respect, for even the gentiles admired them. The tennis court served as a skating rink in the winter. There were also courses in gymnastics, various games, and groups for boxing and Ping-Pong. The Jewish hospital was also in that neighborhood. Most of the houses belonged to Jews: Apfelbaum, Fett, Kaufman, Schneeweiss, Grinspan, Kramer, Schlissel (today in Israel), Herschtal, Adler and others. Meir Yaari, the head of Hashomer Hatzair, came from that neighborhood. I remember very well the sporting days where hundreds of Jewish boys and girls participated. The festivities were organized by the directorship of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael (Jewish National Fund) on the Bar Kochba field. Prior to the beginning of the games, a youth parade with flags took place. This was a great influence upon the young souls, and in general upon the development of the Jewish youth in our city. Fett, Grauer, Dr. Shapira (today living in the United States), and Weinbach (today in Poland) served as the chairmen of the Bar Kochba organization, and gave of their will and energy to promote it. The youth in our town were very active in various endeavors, and filled a variety of roles with love and dedication. We were convinced that our way was correct, and we worked enthusiastically and with dedication despite the great difficulties that often came in our way. Changes in our organizational work took place after the establishment of the Hebrew school under the directorship of Dr. Knosow. The teaching staff of that school included Sara Untericht, Eichenwald, Yitzchak Weiss (today in Jerusalem), and Diller (today in Israel). After many meetings, we succeeded in making inroads in the school, and bringing some of the students into our ranks. We organized discussions, lectures, scouting activities, hikes and contests. Older members were active in Bnei Zion, and also oversaw the hachsharah groups of Hanoar Hatzioni, which needed practical help. We concerned ourselves first and foremost with finding places to work. We provided books and newspapers, and we spent entire evenings together. In such a manner, we helped them overcome their difficult period.
{Photo page 182: Hanoar Hatzioni group in 1930. From right: Shlomo Wang, Yehoshua Strassberg, Lonek Grauer, Wowek Sandhaus, Yehuda Hershlag, Max Lindman, Moniek Batist}
In 1938, during the period of illegal immigration, the activities of the movement intensified. The political situation took a turn for the worse. Masses of Polish Jews were expelled from Germany via Zbaszyn, and left without any means. A committee was set up, which expended great efforts in the assistance of our brethren. We provided food, clothing and medical assistance. We concerned ourselves with finding housing for those that remained in our neighborhood. We all felt the atmosphere of approaching danger. The youth understood the situation and began to contemplate aliya to the Land; however the possibilities were severely restricted. Some went as students, and a few went in a legal fashion.
At that time, we returned from the Hanoar Hatzioni conference in Micolicyn, where we met with Kalman Rosenblatt (today a lawyer in Jerusalem), who was our representative from the Land who worked for Aliya Bet. After he presented us with information about aliya, we began to organize this effort among the youth in our city without concern for ideological affiliation. Papers were arranged for all of those who decided to make aliya, and they set out. We knew that the path that we had chosen was not easy, but we felt that this was the appropriate time to leave Poland. Indeed, a few months after my illegal immigration, the war broke out, and everyone else missed their chance.
Hillel Rinde of Rzeszow (today living in Israel) was in my group. Our meeting place was Lvov. We were a group of fifty people from our Hanoar Hatzioni movement. From Lvov we set out by train, via the Zaleszczyki straight to the Romanian border. From there, we were transferred to our ship Asimi in Constanta under careful supervision of Romanian soldiers. There, we joined up with a group of people who had been waiting a long time for the ship. The ship was very small, not an appropriate size for the number of passengers. I was one of the few who, after a journey of eight days, succeeded in arriving to the Land of Israel and disembarking in the vicinity of Netanya, where Kibbutz Yad Mordechai was located at the time. Eighty people in four boats landed with me at that time. Then the ship was forced to move away from the coast, for dawn had broken. On the second night, another eighty people succeeded in disembarking. Then the British captured the ship and towed it to Haifa. After several days under guard, it was transported out to sea. The ship attempted several more times to approach and make contact with the Land, but it was for naught, and it returned to Crete. There, it loaded up again with fuel and food, and returned to the shores of the Land. Since it did not succeed in making contact with the organizations in the Land, it set course directly for the port of Haifa. The captain and the sailors descended into a boat some distance before the Land, and the ship approached the port of Haifa. The British captured it, removed all of the travelers, and freed them all after a week of imprisonment.
Rzeszow was a proper Jewish city, but it knew how to make a bridge between the ancient tradition and the new cultural life. Most of the Jews became involved with Zionism. The level of secular knowledge was great, and the Jews played important roles in municipal life, as well as in the field of education. The activities among the youth were particularly important, and there was almost no young person in the city who was not part of an organized pioneering youth movement. These movements all had their headquarters in Beit Haam. The movements included the left and right leaning Poale Zion, Hechalutz, Gordonia, Hashomer Hatzair, Hanoar Hatzioni, Akiva, Bnei Zion, Betar, and other movements. The youth of our city were famous for their devotion to the actualization of the Zionist ideal. Between the years of 1925-1939, the Zionist circles increased to the point that there was almost no Jewish assimilationist house in the city.
Special effort took place in studying the Hebrew language. Teachers such as Meshulam Davidson operated in the city. He succeeded in making aliya before the war, and died in Kibbutz Nir David surrounded by his family. Yosef Blumenfeld (today in Ramat Gan) also expended great efforts to promote the language, starting with kindergarten students and concluding with adults. One of the experienced teachers was Birenbaum. The broad ranging activity of Tarbut, which was headed by my father Reb Shlomo Munzberg, bore fruit, and within a short time, many learned to speak Hebrew. Ivriya was a unique phenomenon. This was a club of people who knew Hebrew who met each Sabbath afternoon in order to listen to a lecture in vibrant Hebrew. The activists of Ivryia, which succeeded in promoting the study of the language in the young and old alike, included teachers as well as the chairman of the Tarbut organization.
The deeds of the fathers are a portent for the children. This spirit influenced the youth and brought them out from the empty life to the halls of the youth groups, despite the ban issued by the principals of the high schools, who imposed punishments upon youth who belonged to the youth groups, to the point of even expelling them from school.
My father brought me into the movement. He did not desire that I should only absorb a foreign culture and be educated in a spirit far from Judaism. I will not forget the day when groups of the new and old gymnasia, as well as girls from the private gymnasia, banded together to found the Hanoar Hatzioni group.
At first, the head of my group was Mala Wilkenfeld, an intelligent girl who knew how to impart the paths of her soul onto our stormy spirits. She had to take leave of us when she went to continue her studies in Prague, and then our counselor was Hela Rosenbaum. She spent a short time in the Kibbutz when she made aliya.
{Page 184}
{Photo page 184: “Hanoar Hatzioni” with Parents' Committee: Mrs. Nadel, Sigmund Grauer, Shlomo Munzberg, Emir.}
The members of our group were Eva Karp, Luska Zucker, Hanka Alter, Rina Garfunkel, Rena Both, Chana Miller, Chitzia Trom-Slabem (today in Haifa), Dora Milrad-Emir (in Haifa), and Klara Munzberg Maayan (in Tel Aviv). There was also an analogous boys group, consisting of Shlomo Wang, Moniek Batist, Max Lindman, Lonek Grauer-Shachar (in Kibbutz Tel Yitzchak), and Idek Herschlag (a lecturer at Tel Aviv University).
Within a short time, important tasks were distributed to each of us, and we each were put in charge of a group. We prepared for the group discussions from in-depth material, such as the works of Achad Haam in the “Al Parashat Drachim” (“At the Crossroads”) anthology. We treated with special holiness anything that was connected with Judaism and the love of the land.
We would go out in secret to summer retreats (moshava), not always with the agreement of our parents. I remember one occasion where we sneaked the suitcases out the window as our parents were sleeping innocently, and we set out on the journey…
The girls that went out with me to the summer retreats included Dina Einhorn (today Strassberg, a member of Kibbutz Tel Yitzchak), Mala Munzberg (today Krischer in Ramat Aviv), Mala Alter (today Reich, living in Haifa), Mala Taubenfeld (living in the United States), Mala Felsenfeld, Sonia Tenenbaum, and Esther Obestfeld (the latter three perished in the Holocaust).
The youth were very involved in communal life, they knew what was going on in the world, and they expressed an independent opinion regarding anything that went on in political life. The lectures and symposiums prepared us to be “speakers”, and removed from us the fear of public presentations.
The heads of the chapter were Zeev Sandhaus (today in Tel Aviv), Mala Wilkenfeld, Hela Rosenbaum, Idek Herschlag (today in Jerusalem), Menachem Strenger (a member of Kibbutz Tel Yitzchak), Benek Herl, and Victor Sporn (the latter two perished in the Holocaust).
Every year on Lag Baomer, a parade of the youth movements took place with the participation of the local council. The parade concluded with a sporting competition between the various groups that took place on the Bar Kochba field. Splendid rows of scouting-pioneering youth, wearing their unique uniforms, would compete in the presence of representatives of the leadership of the local Zionist movement.
Special activities of the chapter took place in the Hebrew school. We made inroads there, so to speak, under the pretext of sporting and gymnastics activities. However our intention was clear – to organize the youth. In such a manner was the Tamar group founded, some of whose members are living in Israel. These include Sara Reichenthal (today Schneeweiss) , Eda Kraut (today Landau, living in Ramat Aviv), Zonka Faust (a nurse in the Kaplan hospital in Rechovot), Ala Fruhling, Senensieb, and Anita Johannes (today Goldberg, living in Switzerland) [5] . Mala Munzberg-Krischer led the group.
A very impressive ceremony took place on the day of the dedication of the chapter's flag. All of the important Zionists in the city nailed a nail into the flagpole, with their name affixed to the nail. The flag was carried by tall young men. I remember that one of these was Max Grauer, the well-known boxer from our city. I must dedicate a few lines to him, for he saved my life at the conclusion of a summer retreat in Piwniczna on the banks of the Poprad River, a turbulent river in the mountains. As usual, we did not have enough money for the expenses, and we were forced to leave the place where we were living. We went with all of the campers of the moshava to the train station on the banks of the river. The campers wished to frolic in the river to seek relief from the heat. I suddenly realized that one of the campers was starting to drown. Without thinking, I jumped into the water, and the current dragged me into a whirlpool. I felt that I would drown as well. Max Grauer saw from afar how I was fighting the waves, and without hesitation, he jumped into the river and brought me back to land.
His younger brother, Wilek Grauer, was also active in the movement. He was famous as the flyweight boxing champion. The two Grauer brothers participated in national competitions, and did the Jewish sportsmen proud.
The Bar Kochba organization had a long tradition, and many patrons. We spent most of our free time on the sports fields – tennis in the summer, and ice skating in the winter. Included among the sports enthusiasts who gave of their time and money to develop sports education among the Jewish youth were Dr. Henryk Spiro, a dentist (today in the United States), Zygmunt Grauer, Henryk Weinbach, and Geno Dornfest.
{Photo page 185: Hanoar Hatzioni group.}
The students and academics were organized into their own organization, called Ognisko. Its members included Olga Perel, Giza Teitelbaum, Stefa Weisberg, Fridka Strenger, Salka Kalter, Zelda Adler, Lotka Strassberg, Tonka Yisrael (today in Israel), Muszka Spiro (a doctor in Netanya), Gena Schipper, Shayek Horowitz, and many others.
One of its organizers was Salek West – the center of cultural and political life for the older academic students. Among the activists of the academic youth were Engineer Tenenbaum, Janek Horn, Zeler, and Shayek Keller (today the lawyer Rosner, the chairman of the Rzeszow organization of Israel), as well as Ida Segal, Gena Schipper, Mina Wang, Hela Hauser, Nadel and Magister Hofstetter.
The Communist students formed a separate student club in our city, called the “Communist Salon”. Among the members, we should first and foremost mention Gola Mira, a refined and enchanting girl who excelled in her partisan activity in the forests surrounding Krakow. The stories of her bravery are recorded in the book “Justina's Diary”. She died the death of the brave during the time of the Holocaust.
The laws of “numerus clausus” were in effect in the Polish universities, and later “numerus nullus” – that is to say that their doors were closed as far as the Jews were concerned, especially in the fields of medicine and pharmacy. Jewish victims died in the demonstrations against these laws, including Zelermeier in Lvov. The Jewish students demanded their places in the educational institutions. I will never forget the day in which my student dossier was endorsed with a racial stamp at the Josef Pilsudski Warsaw University, indicating that my place will be among the unassigned seats (on the left).
For four years, we listened to the lectures as we were standing, leaning against the wall – lest we sit in the “ghetto of the benches”. The character of Professor Kotrabinski, who lectured in a standing position throughout all those years as a sign of protest against the anti-Semitic restrictions, was a ray of light in the darkness. When he visited Israel a few years ago, he was received with exceptional reverence and admiration by his former students.
It is appropriate to specially point out the Hebrew school, which was founded through he efforts of several people who were extremely dedicated. These were Dr. Schmelkes, Aharon Wang, Yaakov Alter, Dr. Henryk Kanarek, Dr. Felix Hopfen, and my father Shlomo Munzberg. Their intention was to prevent the Jewish children from absorbing foreign culture and anti-Semitism and to give them a Jewish education. The first principal was Pelc, a retired Polish Christian. This was in order to insure that things would be in good order with regards to the government. Three teachers were invited to teach, Miriam Eichenwald of Jaroslaw, Saba Untericht, and Sara Diller of Jaslow (today a teacher in the Lewinski seminary).
The acting principal was Knosow – an intelligent man with a noble personality. The veteran teachers who gave much to increase the level of this school included Professor Yitzchak Weiss, today a teacher in a high school in Jerusalem. He also looked after the central Hebrew library, which was at a high level. Graduates of this Hebrew school who survived the early part of the Holocaust participated in partisan activities during the Holocaust. A few of the survivors reached Israel, and served as educators in Hebrew schools.
2. These groups of people who are getting set to make aliya together are called kibbutzim (singular kibbutz), to be differentiated from the word kibbutz that refers to a collective farm. Back
3. The term 'Orthodox' here seems to mean the non-Zionist Orthodox (i.e. with the exception of Mizrachi). The term used is analogous to the Modern Hebrew term 'chareidim', which loosely translates into English as 'ultra-Orthodox'. Back
4. Hashomer Hatzair is on the extreme left wing of Zionism. Back
5. One of the people who is mentioned in this note was consulted regarding the names, and pointed out that there are some errors here. a) Sara Reichenthal's first name is Sabina (although I suspect that Sara is her correct Hebrew name). b) The note (today Landau in Ramat Aviv) belongs to Ala Fruhling, not Eda Kraut. c) Eda Kraut's married name is Senensieb. The name Senesieb should not stand alone. Back
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