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by A. Schwartzberg (Montreal)
Shlomo'leh Beikhel
When I begin to flip the pages in my memory book, about the various types [of people] in my town, an array of all sorts of characters appear before me: Hasidic, Mitnagdim, so called freethinkers, all sorts of idlers, and just plain interesting types, which certainly, not one of our landsleit remembers any longer. Here, I will attempt to retrieve from the wells of forgetfulness, certain personas from that referenced gallery, whose description, I believe, can have, if not a great deal of cultural-historic value, then definitely, a meaning for our Pinkas.
It is worth noting here, that I recall these various individuals only by their nicknames. Therefore, I expect that their relatives or friends will forgive me, because I do not, God forbid, intend any disrespect to them. Rather, is no exaggeration if I say that not one of us knows their correct family names. And it is even possible that they – the people themselves – also didn't actually know them.
In general, it was perhaps something of a custom, to call people by nicknames (especially in the Neustadt). The nicknames, mostly, were in one of three categories:
One time, however, I learned something about this Shlomo'leh, which affected me, not only to stop laughing at him, but quite the opposite – to look at him with respect and great deference, mixed naturally with some compassion.
It happened that my father, Shlomo Lehrer (that is how my father the teacher was called), on a hot Saturday afternoon, told his pupils the wondrous story of Shlomo Konskowoler[1], the grandfather of Shlomo'leh Beikhel.
– There was once a Jew, a merchant by the name of R' Shlomo Konskowoler (‘German’ names were not in use at that time). This Shlomo was a clever Jewish man, and because of that, he succeeded in his commercial dealings, which consisted of dealing in forest products. He dealt with the richest nobles, and in the course of the years, he became very wealthy, a Jew with riches beyond measure. His wealth grew rapidly, and Shlomo took up residence in an elaborate palace, hired many attendants and servants, and conducted himself as if her too were a nobleman.
Every early morning, after prayers, R' Shlomo, who by that time was being called Gospodin Solomon, and who owned almost the entire area of Konskowola, would ride out in his silver-plated carriage, drawn by six horses in tandem. He would ride out to inspect his forests, fields, lands, and see if everything is in order: the work, the grain, and if everything is being appropriately supervised.
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And so, he was accustomed to do this for a long time, until one time he committed a great transgression, which was the cause for his rapid decline.
It was on a fall day. The morning was rainy, and the Polish roads (unpaved) – wet and muddy. In an open wagon, drawn by a scrawny single horse, a Rebbe was traveling with several of his retinue. Because of the bad road, the horse was barely able to pull the wagon, and the Jews, soaked through by the rain, tired, complained to one another, and were humming some sort of a tune. Suddenly, from behind them, the carriage of the Jewish noble Solomon appears, and with a thrust, rides right by the wagon, spraying the Rebbe and his Hasidim with mud.
The Rebbe, full of ire, called out:
– May you no longer live to ride in your carriage!
Immediately from this day onward, R' Shlomo's business dealings began to melt down like butter. He lost a lot of his wealth, sold his palace in order to pay off large debts, and in the end – lost his silvered carriage.
R' Shlomo's son, was already an ordinary, not wealthy Jew, who barely made a living. He left Konskowola and took up residence in Zamość, in the Neustadt. His wife bore him a son, who was given the name of his grandfather – Shlomo'leh.
Shlomo'leh's luck was, however, the opposite of his grandfather's, since in his entire life he was a pauper, and suffered because of the ‘sins of the father….’
‘The Young Flower’
In the middle of the thirties, Zamość had young people which came from a generation that received a normal upbringing. Most of the youth, born already after the First World War, received a regular education in Heder, school, and a part also went to middle school. Jewish cultural life developed quickly and broadly, thanks to the normal and stable circumstances. The Zionist youth movement, as also the left-wing groups, took in increasing numbers of members.
The libraries and reading circles drew a large number of readers and books were injected into many homes. Finally, the moment arrived, when Zamość could revive the publication of its own weekly paper – ‘Die Zamośćher Stimme.’
A group of young people did not content themselves with just living culturally and remaining passive observers of the cultural life of the city. [The group] decided to found its own circle for cultural activities, which over time would crystallize a platform of its own. Far from the congested political ranks, the founders of the circle were: the writer of these lines – then a gymnasium student, Israel Pertziger (today in Russia), an employee of a business, Abraham Pak, a later worker (an assistant to his father), Yaakov Hazenwald (from Komarow), an employee of a business, and Yaakov Schwartz (son of a Shokhet), a watchmaker.
The circle had no sooner been created, then it immediately undertook its brief seriously. Meetings took place twice a week, at which problems of a very substantive character were taken under review, such as: natural science, literature, sociological, philosophical, political, etc. At every meeting, a different member would prepare a talk, which was read out loud and afterwards discussed.
Everything was formally recorded by a secretary, and safeguarded in a special archive.
This circle grew rapidly, and at that time, the members decided to create their own publication – to print a periodical.
The first edition had 16 handwritten sides, and was organized according to the design of a real periodical, that means there were: a lead article, a chronology of the week, serious articles and even a humorous byline under the title of ‘Der
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Letz’ (edited by Yaakov Schwartz). The latter also carved out the name of the periodical in wood, ‘The Young Flower’ which was in red ink.
The following several editions were full of interesting offerings, written by members of the circle and edited by a special collegium of editors.
Naturally, many copies were not made, because it was not easy to hand write so many columns. Nevertheless, apart from the members of the circle, also several outside people obtained this periodical. When M. Tzaller, the co-editor of the Zamośćher Stimme, saw this periodical for the first time, he was very moved by it, and promised try and find a way to have the copies printed.
Regrettably, this never happened, because after a certain amount of time, in which there was activity, the circle, for a specific reason that was not dependent on the membership, had to abandon the periodical – and close down.
The Great Fire in the Neustadt
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| The destruction of the Neustadt after the frightful fire. At that time, 69 houses were burned down. Up to 400 families were left without a roof over their heads. In the foreground of the picture the skeleton of the incinerated Neustadt Synagogue can be seen. On the right is a house left completely intact, which housed the business of Pinchas Naftshazh (‘The Russian Kerosene Maker’). |
I believe that there is not one of our landsleit who has forgotten the frightful fire in the Neustadt, which wiped out a large part pf the Jewish center of the town, encompassing the synagogue, the Bet HaMedrash, and almost all of the Hasidic shtibl houses of worship. Eighty houses were carried away by the fire, and, apart from the synagogue, I do not believe that a single one was re-built until the war, which led to a second fire, which ended the destruction.
It was on a beautiful morning, May 5, 1936. The sky was clear blue, and the sun warmed everything. A breeze was blowing the stubble on the unpaved streets. It was 10 o'clock, and each and every person was busy: whether at work, whether in the factory, or in school.
Suddenly, the sound of the siren, with a fearful wail, is heard throughout the city, emanating from the municipal electric station. Everyone shudders, knowing that it is the sign of a fire. A commotion arises in the city.
People drop their work. Close up their businesses, and run to extinguish the fire, or to help save the possessions of friends.
Everyone hopes that it will not last long, and the fire will be extinguished, seeing that it is still early in the day, when people are awake. Very quickly, however, it becomes evident that this is mistaken.
The fire is not in one place, but breaks out suddenly in a variety of locations simultaneously. Nobody understands how this happened, and doesn't know where to put the fire out first. The siren continues to wail, but the fire-fighters do not arrive. They, themselves, don't move too quickly, because they already know that ‘It is the zhids who are burning….’
When they finally do arrive, it appears that they have ‘forgotten’ to fill the barrels with water….
They ride back to the river, and again, it takes a long time until they come back. The assembly loses patience and begins to do whatever they can. However, there is not much that can be done, because the fire spreads with frightening speed, ever swallowing up newer houses. The houses, made of wood, and dried by the baking sun, burn quickly. In a large number of places, the fire shoot out tongues of flame heavenward. There is a theory, that in a number of places, Jew-haters have poured out kerosene, in order to annihilate the ‘Little Moscow,’ as they cynically referred to the Jewish neighborhood.
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The assets of poor Jews burned for an entire day, and the coals gleamed in the evening.
The Jewish center remained a field with chimneys, which at night had the appearance of ghosts, striking fear in the Jewish residents regarding future fires….
Regrettably, not many of us, at that time, understood the warning and could not foresee the later global conflagration, which will annihilate not only our possessions, but also the large majority of our people, both biologically and spiritually.
Days later, rumors circulated that the fire was set up and carried out by underworld elements, hired by the Endekist anti-Semites. This was the way they took revenge against the ‘zhids,’ who had the temerity to celebrate the worker's holiday on the First of May, in such a good-spirited manner.
A number of Jews even said, that there was even a wink given by the central authorities to the gentiles of Zamość…
Translator's footnote:
Translator's note:
When I shared an early draft of this memoir with my cousin, David Carver (born Sznycer in the Neustadt), he wrote back on May 1, 2003 as follows:Dear Jack,
For the first time you uncovered something that I certainly remember. The fire stopped directly across the street from our house. My father evacuated our family to a large field where others were also. My mother, brother and sister and the rest were spread out surrounded by some of our belongings, while my father returned to our house where he got on to the roof and proceeded to wet the shingles to prevent them from catching fire.
Curiously while we were ‘camped’ out in this field a woman and man came to see us, or rather came to see my mother. It turned out that she was a non-Jewish girlhood friend of my mother's who had emigrated to America, was visiting Poland and wished to see my mother. She gave me some chewing gum which I chewed then swallowed, not knowing any better.
Thank you so much for this,
Dave
by Mark Jakubowicz
3 Elul 5674 [25 Aug 1914] a short time after the outbreak of the World War, when the Austrian armies and Czarist Cossacks would march into and out of Zamość, Zamość survived a bloody slaughter, during which 11 Jewish citizens of the city fell.
Zamość, found at the one-time Russian-Austrian border, was a place of predation, which largely fell on the heads of the Jews. The authority in charge of the city always went over from one hand to the other. Understand, that in such an uncertain atmosphere, there were all manner of provocations from underworld elements – street women and rascals – put themselves up against the Jews. And it happened on that ‘famous’ Tuesday at noon, when the Austrians left the city, and the Russians entered the city. These fine upstanding people already had aroused the Russian military, telling them that the Jews had received the Austrians favorably. So, the military began to kill and rob. The elderly Zanvill Zegen was murdered, who looked out of a window. In the Neustadt, several hundred Jews and Poles were gathered together in an empty plaza, and stood in a row. Cannon was placed opposite them, and only thanks to a specific commander, Fanelov, who came to that spot, was the frightful slaughter averted.
These events burdened the community activists with the come together in such a danger, at the Municipal building, to take counsel, in order to halt the pogrom. The bakers were directed to bake bread for the military. Among those young people, there was also the son of the deceased Rabbi, who was later shot.
From one dwelling, a conscript shot out of a window, and created a provocation that the Jews were firing on the military and on its leadership.
A huge commotion broke out between the military and the leaders of the 189th Warsaw Regiment, Colonel Zhulabin, gave the order to shoot.
Everyone began to run into the houses to hide. So the drunken military began to search, and pulled about ten people out of a cellar, who were stood in a row, and the previously mentioned murderer, Zhulabin gave an order to shoot them. It was in this line that the Rabbi's son fell, Yeshayahu HaLevi Hurwitz (Weissbrod), who was 18 years old at that time, and had gone to the Colonel asking him why they were being shot. The Colonel then gave a shout: ‘Мерзавцй!’[1] and gave the order to shoot. A volley, and everyone is laid out on the ground. The conscripts, in their bloodthirstiness approached the dead, and trampled them underfoot, and beat them up with the butts of their rifles, to the point that it was difficult to recognize the dead.
The names of those who were shot are:
Meir Altberg, 38 years old; Israel Hoon, 34 years old; Yeshayahu Hurwitz (Weissbrod) 18 years ols; Zeinvill Zegen, 71 years old; Tevel Finkenberg 48 Years old; Hirsch Finkenberg, 18 years old (son); Moshe Ehrlich, 22 years old; Yitzhak Guthartz, 40 years old; David Eisenberg, 17 years old; and Yitzhak-David Fass, 21 years old.
That Tuesday of the year 1914 will not leave the memories of the Zamość Jewish community for a very long time.
It is worth adding, that till this day, on the common grave of the Martyrs, there is no memorial. It is therefore the highest time for the native congregation to provide a means of placing a memorial for its community representatives.
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This reminder necrology was published in the Lubliner Tageblatt, number 201, Thursday 21 Elul 5688, September 6, 1928. The writer advises that this Tuesday of the 10 people killed ‘will not leave the memories of the Zamość Jewish community for a very long time.’ After this, came the grotesque deaths of the thousands of Jews from the entire community of Zamość, which made the magnitude of this murder pale by comparison. We bring this necrology here as it appeared in its time.
Additionally, we also bring the eye-witness account of Akiva Schwartzberg about this same incident. Schwartzberg, a witness, and nearly a martyr of this very same incident, provides an array of details that are missing from this reminder notice.
Translator's footnote:
Told by Akiva Schwartzberg. Recorded by Jekuthiel Zwillich - Haifa, Israel
When the First World War broke out, the Austrian military took Zamość. On the second or third day, they relinquished the city and left. A number of us men from the Neustadt were in the Altstadt, on what later was the Peretz Gasse, opposite the tearoom where the droshkies wold stand.
Suddenly we heard shooting. So several of us comrades, among them David Yudeh (Yaakov Eisenberg), Itcheh-David Esther Henyeh's (Yitzhak-David Ahss) and I began to run towards the Neustadt.
On the way, we met up with Tevel Finkenberg (Lejzor Khrovyeh's) with his son – Hirsch. When we were near the ‘little courtyard’ a group of Russian soldiers held us up, and led us to a wall opposite the Francziskaner house. On the second side, was the building of the Strazh Pozharneh (The Fire-Fighters).
They held us for an hour's time, and beat us vigorously and demanded that we should tell them where the Austrians were. In this span of time, the soldiers brought in other Jews, and a small number of Christians. Understand, that we could not say where the Austrians had gone.
The commandant Zalubin [sic: Zhalubin] gave an order to the soldiers that they should shoot at us with their machine guns. When we saw how the soldiers were making their weapons ready to shoot, all of us who were standing near the wall pushed ourselves into a corner.
When the first shots hit, all of us fell down on the ground. A number were dead, and a number were wounded.
Shmuel Finkenberg asked his son if he was still alive? The son answered – Yes, father. A Russian soldier heard this, and he immediately informed the commandant that among the people, there were some who were alive.
The commandant then gave out an order to the soldiers that the living should be stabbed with bayonets. I was also wounded in the throat. Blood ran from the wound. I was lying with my face down. The soldiers then dragged me by the feet on the ground about 5 meters and they showed me to the commandant, indicating that I was dead. They did the same for all of the people who were lying on the ground. Anyone who showed any sign of live, was immediately stabbed with the bayonets.
To this day, I still remember the names of the people who were killed at that time. They were: Meir Altberg, Israel Hoon, Yeshaya Hurwitz (the son of the Rabbi of Zamość), Zeivill Zegen, Tuvia (Tevel) Finkenberg, Hirsch Finkenberg, Yitzhak Guthartz, David Eisenberg, Yitzhak-Davis Fass and several other Christians, who were dead.
I lay on the ground about 2 hours. It was already getting dark, and I heard how a cart was approaching. I noted that there was an officer in the cart. When he say the people lying there, he asked the conscript that was guarding us – what is this? The soldier replied that the commandant had ordered the people shot.
The officer – he was a general – his name was Folgov – gave a shout, that the commandant was to be brought to him immediately. The commandant came immediately, and at the question of the general, as to why he had ordered these people shot, he answered that these were spies.
Among those who were shot were a lot of minor young boys, and I myself was then 14 years old, so the general asked – what, such young children are spies? And the general ordered the soldiers to disarm the commandant and take him away.
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Afterwards, he ordered that a medical orderly be summoned, and he asked him to search among the people, who were lying on the ground, to see if there yet may be among them those whom it would be possible to save.
When I heard this, I raised myself, and said, that I am alive. Next to me, another boy raised himself. The medical orderly went up to Moshe Ehrlich from the ‘Little Courtyard,’ and stanched the flow of blood, which was flowing out of him, and he was taken to his home. Died 2 days later.
I and the second boy, who had raised himself, were ordered by the general to go home. When the general noted that blood was running out of my throat, he said to me that I am wounded, and he ordered the medical orderly to bandage my wound.
In the time that the medical orderly was busy with me, a soldier came riding up, and told the general that in the Neustadt, beyond the tile factory, the entire Jewish population of the Neustadt is standing, waiting to be shot.
The general did not think, and asked us where we live. When we said that we live in the Neustadt. He told us to get into his cart, and he took us to the bell in the Neustadt, where we got down. The general went off in the direction of the tile factory.
In the Neustadt we saw no people. Our house was boarded up, and there was no one I could ask where the people were. A half hour later, my parents came running with my sisters and brothers, and told that all the Jews had been led out to be shot. Several machine guns had already been set up for that purpose. However, they were lucky, that in the very last minute, a general rode up in a carriage and freed everyone, and told them to go to their homes.
Saturday, after this great miracle, the entire Neustadt community recited the Gomel blessing.
by Zvi Gebet
The ‘Fifth’ Year in Zamość
Before I will write down the upheavals that took place by us, which happened as an echo of the great contest in that historic revolutionary year, I must portray the general appearance of our Jewish community, in the eve of that stormy ‘fifth’ year.
In general, Jewish life was clothes in a religious character, everything centered about the Schulhof. Conversations between Hasidim and Mitnagdim generally had some bearing on the Enlightenment. To begin with, it was the religious community that had the upper hand in Jewish life, however, new winds began to penetrate, brought in by Jewish gymnasium students, who studied in what at that time was the Russian Pro-Gymnasium. To the extent that I can remember, the first of the gymnasium students were the children of Elkanah Geliebter, whom the director promised that the children would not have to write on the Sabbath, but they will have to attend classes, whether on the Sabbath or on other Jewish Festival Holidays.
The economic foundation of the Jewish community was in trade and crafts. Trade benefitted a great deal from Russian politics, which dictated that the railroad line not pass too close to the Austrian border. The closest railroad station was in Rajowiec, 50 kilometers from Zamość. From here to the border was yet a longer distance, sprinkled with towns and villages, with a large population. Zamość thus developed as the entry point which provided merchandise for a rather large ambit. Cargo wagons and passenger coaches went back and forth between Rajowiec and Zamość without pause, for the entire week – except for Shabbat. Also the passenger traffic followed the same path, to Rajowiec. Beginning with the inexpensive cargo wagons for simple, poor passengers, after that, coaches for merchants up to carriages (that belonged to the Richter brothers), for the really well-to-do people.
The Russian military was an important factor in Zamość. The city had a large number of craftsmen, such as: tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, metalworkers, hat makers, bakers, locksmiths, and a complete array of other craftsmen. A large portion of the craftsmen worked alone, without workers. The biggest among them retained ‘young folk’ (that is the way they were called up to the year 1905, when they started to use the expression ‘workers’). This sort of ‘young person’ could be retained either in the city or in the Neustadt, most of them being of the type who came from the surrounding towns.
In general, the craftsman was held to be at a lower [social] level than the Jews who were balebatim, who owned and ran a small store (even the smallest). A Jew, who was one of the balebatim, would not consider proposing a marriage between his child and the child of a craftsman. One could hear from this sort of person, the following type of remark: ‘I haven't fallen so low yet, that I need to enter into a marital arrangement with a craftsman; a tailor or a shoemaker!’
The craftsmen made their own small synagogues and minyanim. The worshipers at the community shtibl also came from the ranks of this type of Jewish person. It was here that they retained Maneh Melamed. Who studied with them every evening, between Mincha and Maariv.
I remember once, how one of the balebatim from the city, a merchant said:
– All people are equal to me, and if Yankel'eh the Tailor comes into my place, I will extend my hand to him (!).
And as low in status that the craftsmen were, the servant girls and apprentices, the ‘young folk,’ were even lower. To the extent, that it bordered on slavery. Such ‘young people’ were taken on by the craftsmen for a season – from Passover to Sukkot – or the reverse [i.e. from, Sukkot to Passover]. Such a youth was taken into a household with room and board, and a small amount of pocket change for the time. Usually, his sleeping place was a corner covered in straw, which was usually in the attic, or in a side room. He would take him in for the evening, and wrap him up on the ironing
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board, or simply right on the floor. Food also consisted of the cheapest possible fare, that could be procured from the slaughterhouses – end pieces, the meat from the head, and other ‘bargains.’ Such a young person had to work to the extend desired by the master. Mostly, this was from before dawn until late at night, with a break – to go to synagogue to offer the prayers for Mincha and Maariv. Coming back from synagogue, an evening meal was eaten, and once again, one sat down to work with a fresh song, if the master didn't have a headache.
I recall that at the place of Israel-Itcheh Schneider, several such ‘young folk’ worked, and warm food was being served, as was the usual custom, but something not quite as good, and for the master, the stood a bowl of soup with a piece of fowl in it, and as the master turned [momentarily], one of the young folk threw in a handful of salt into his plate! The lady of the house had a lot of explaining to do to her husband, for why his food was over-salted.
As hard as the work was for these craftsmen: tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, it was that much more difficult for the bakers, because in the other occupations, the ‘youth’ had the night to themselves. The young folk who worked for the bakers, in general, did not have any set time for sleep – especially from Wednesday to Friday before evening, at the time that the cholent pots were put into the oven.[1] The young folk who worked for the bakers would usually ‘grab a snooze’ only while standing on their feet.
These sort of relationships gave rise in Zamość to a special class who literally were idlers; they were young people, who until they reached the age of military service, even though they lived with their parents and hungered, did not want to ‘lower themselves’ to the level of a craftsman.
The growth of the labor movement in Russia and Poland, the beginning of the organization to improve the working and living conditions of workers, reached Zamość, and became different in this respect.
The onset of the Jewish labor movement by us in the city, did not come from the ranks of the workers [themselves], but from ‘top-down’ – the first who took to organizing the ‘young folk’ were the intelligentsia. It came from a university Naphtali Margolis (a scion of the Zamość ‘Rothchilds!’) who was joined by the Ashkenazis, the Goldsteins, the Epsteins, Yerakhmiel Brandwein, Fishel Geliebter, and many others and they founded the Bund.
A second group founded the ‘SS Party.’ The founder was Chaim Shpizeisen, who came from Minsk. He was joined by Itteh Geliebter (a female student), Pesha Rosen (a hairdresser), Yaakov Geliebter (a goldsmith), Hirsch Gebet (an employee), Berish Puter (a mechanic), Yaakov Goldhaar (a locksmith), Henoch Zitz (a hat maker),Gedaliah Jonasgartel (a baker), and others.
Professional activity was started by these political organizations. Strikes begin for minimally better conditions. Discussions also were initiated about the programs of both parties, and a larger and larger part of the depressed youth on the sidelines, along with craftsmen, were drawn into the movement.
There were frequent meetings, mostly in the Bet HaMedrash on Friday towards nightfall, and also in the other quorums assembled for prayer in the shtiblach. From time to time, they were also held outside of the city, under open skies. On one occasion, such a meeting took place in a vacant house in ‘Browar.’ Despite the fact that we had posted patrols, and
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warned us that the police were coming, and that a large part of the audience fled, the police were able to arrest 25 men, which were encountered on the way from the ‘Browar’ to the city. It cost a few rubles, but everyone was let go.
Berish Puter, whom we mentioned previously, played a rather significant role at the ‘S.S.’ His father had a lock making business, and a metal-casting facility; it was a small dirty factory. This served the ‘S.S.’ as a party headquarters, where circles would gather and meetings were held; There was also a hectograph here, where the party printed its announcements.
Courses to learn how to read and write existed in the parties. This helped to spiritually elevate the new movement. Apart from this, there was a daily meeting at a location [birzheh] where the workers would stroll and air the issues of the organizations among themselves. I don't know why, before the ‘birzheh,’ this was conducted near the Roman Catholic Church, and later was moved to Nevsky, from the Synagogue to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The first strike was that of the bakers. This was a difficult strike, which went on and on. The strike was led by the ‘S.S.’ The party was completely consumed by this strike. The largest bakery belonged to the ‘Kokkehs[2]’ (the Bekher brothers). Since they were two brothers, they did the baking themselves, and did not want to take on any help. In the end, the strike succeeded.
The second strike (also carried out by the ‘S.S.’) was among the servants, which is what we called the employees of the trading businesses. This also was a difficult strike. The demands here were, that the businesses should not remain open for more than 12 hours a day. Since most of these businesses employed between 1 and 4 servants, the strike was difficult, in those instances where the owners discontinued the employment. This strike also was won.
A curiosity arose at Irlander's business in this strike, where there were 16 employees. There, the 12-hour day had been previously implemented. When the strike began, the merchants came to Irlander with a complaint, that he is responsible for the strike – he spoiled the servants. He called together his personnel, and told to them that he is cancelling the 12-hour day, and he will hold his business open as long as he would like to. With that, they all got up and left their work. When several days later, he called his employees and told them that he was retracting his demand, the employees then presented a demand for a 25 percent increase in pay, an increase that they, indeed, did win.
The third strike, also directed by ‘S.S.’ was the carpenter's strike.
But the biggest strike, which took place in that time was the one by the tailors. The majority got together and made a joint stand that they will not concede anything. The ‘young folk’ were not permitted to come in and spend the night, and the workers had no place to sleep, had nothing to eat. This strike was conducted by the Bund. The collection for a strike-fund was initiated. All the workers in the city took part in this action. The shopkeepers themselves began to do the work. Those who retained 1 or 2 apprentices were able to deal with the situation – the larger ones could do nothing. Apart from this, the balebatim had gotten used to being able to go down to the ‘orchards,’ on a daily basis at midday, where there were always circles of Jews, to discuss ‘politics;’ tell each other news, or just plain exchanging banter and jokes. The strike kept them tethered to their businesses….so the balebatim concluded among themselves, that the workers are not the ones responsible for the strike, but rather, it was the intelligentsia, which had talked the workers into this trouble. So, groups of these masters went out, with staves in their hands, and wherever they met up with a party member, they fell upon him, and broke his bones. Among those beaten this way were N. Margolis, Ch. Shpizeisen, and others.
Seeing that the beatings were not helping, the tailors decided to form a cooperative; about twenty or so tailors got together, at Fat Wohlish's (Richtman), who at that time was one of the biggest tailors, and went to work.
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Initially, it went happily – one cut, a second one basted, another sewed, pressed – the work went on with a song, and as they intended, also with victory. This lasted for about 2 weeks. An internal struggle began against the ‘management.’ Each individual wanted to go to his prior clients. An internal contention began, regarding matters pertaining to trade skills – one would not be satisfied with another's ‘cut;’ a second one would not be satisfied with someone else's ‘stitch.’ Initially these differences had the character of being arguments with derisory remarks, with the usual ‘blessings’ in your father's father, etc. Until it got to the point that they began throwing around pressing cushions, boards, scissors…. it got boisterous, and one at a time, each master went out to find his ‘young folk,’ and conceded everything that the latter had demanded!
A couple of episodes from that stormy moment:
On a certain day, friends came to the ‘birzheh’ from the Neustadt and related that the thieves, all of whom lived in the Neustadt, that no ‘striker’ should dare to come in (by a ‘striker’ they meant to include anyone involved in organizing, or who was a freethinker), because otherwise, they will ‘have to take care of him.’ This elicited a storm, and immediately several tens of workers gathered together, and went off to the Neustadt. There, they promenaded about the center in a demonstrative fashion: from Stern's Pharmacy to the Post Office. Back and forth. The thieves took a moment to think through what to do. In the end, they decided to come out an ‘chew the fat’ and to learn what it was that the ‘strikers’ wanted….
We explained to them that stealing was not an occupation, and that it is a product of the capitalist system (!!!) And we made an agreement on the spot, that they really need to abandon that ‘occupation.’ Part of them became wagon drivers, a part shoemakers, and a few went off to America; all of them enrolled in courses to learn reading and writing. Most of them were able to pass their examinations, and yet others returned to their ‘occupation.’ However, they no longer sought any confrontations with the ‘strikers.’
A real incident took place between a group of butchers from the ‘Browar’ who also had declared war on the ‘strikers.’ In this instance we didn't go to the ‘Browar’ – the butchers came to us in the ‘birzheh.’ They were armed with knives in their belts and with staves in their hands – saying, here we are! Let's see you do something about it!… I don't remember how it got started, but a fight broke out immediately near Yencheh's place of business. I only remember that Berish Puter and Simcha Loesser (from Lublin) arrived, and they threw themselves into the melee, with the intent of stopping the incident. The butchers all threw themselves upon Berish, but they were in the minority against a larger number of the friends from the ‘birzheh.’ It is true that not everyone got mixed up in the fight, and it wasn't necessary, because these ‘heroic’ young people got their bones broken pretty well, and didn't show themselves anymore.
After these incidents, the work was again carried out in peace. A variety of circles operated in groups of both parties. Each attempted to draw the active members of the other to themselves. The intelligentsia of the Bund was interested in winning me over as well, but I believed strongly in the program of the ‘S.S.’
A big event of those time was the demonstration that was organized after the October 17th Manifesto. All the Jewish workers of the city, along with a larger number of Polish workers from the brick making factories and breweries, demonstrated under red banners. The demonstration stretched from the ‘Browar’ Way near the three lanterns, past the gymnasium and the keep, across from the Roman Catholic Church, in the direction of the ‘Little Courtyard.’ Everyone walked in closed ranks, and sang revolutionary songs. When the demonstration drew close to the home of the town leader, and Dr. Geliebter, the area police constable Czerniecki approached from the opposite direction, with a small patrol of soldiers. He posed a demand that the demonstrators should disperse peacefully. He declared that the revolution is not going to start in Zamość, but rather in the big cities, and whatever will happen in all of Russia will also happen here.
The demonstration came to an end. The large assembled mass sang an array of revolutionary songs. I especially remember Liosha Altberg, who was already an elderly woman, she stood in the middle and led the singing.[3]
[Page 384]
Later we found out that a group of demonstrators had been arrested. The entire mass moved to the jail, which was behind the Magistrate [sic: the Rathaus], and demanded that the arrested people be released, or to arrest the entire mass of people. After a half hour, the constable came to release the arrested people under the condition that the crowd should disperse. After the arrested people were released, one of the songs was sung with vigor, and everyone went off.
After the stormy ‘fifth’ year, reaction in Russia strengthened. A wave of pogroms cascaded over all of Russia. The air also became suffocating in Zamość. A mass-emigration began, especially to America. This dealt the movement a strong blow. The best activists took up their wandering staffs, and the ranks grew thinner and thinner.
If one is speaking of the year 1905, it is necessary to recall that the building of a military barracks was started in the ‘Browar.’ This was a big construction project, the likes of which the city had not yet seen. Many Christian construction workers were imported from Russia, and a small number of Jews. These helped greatly in the building up of the Bundist movement in Zamość.
There was a bit of an economic uplift in the city. Political and cultural activity started up. A number of strikes also took place against the contractors.
The reactionary years put pressure on everything. Very heavily punitive attitudes came down on everyone, but the memories of that stormy period survived for a long time, and had an impact on everyone's memory who lived through those times.
The First Jewish Community Library in the City
Before I come to relate about the founding of the first and only community library in Zamość, I must first briefly remark about the element that had to be the creator and user of the library.
[Page 385]
In general, there were almost no readers at all among any circle in our city. There was nobody who had an interest or a need to read in Yiddish or Hebrew. The old generation lived its time out in the books of the Bet HaMedrash, and the younger generation was educated in the Heder, and afterwards in the Bet HaMedrash. It was only a very small portion of the youth that studied at the Russian Gymnasium and they read Russian and Polish books.
Yiddish, in general, was not counted as a cultural language, the language was called ‘Jargon,’ and most of the young people was not disposed to speak or read Yiddish. The majority of the young people, who did not study at the ‘Szkolas,’ could read neither Polish nor Russian, lived their lives in Yiddish, but did not read any Yiddish books – there practically were none to be had. Some would occasionally snatch a glance at a Yiddish periodical (‘Friend’ and others), which would arrive in the city in small numbers.
In those years, a few Yiddish books would get into the city in a fashion that is today unknown. Jews would travel through towns and villages with all sorts of merchandise for Jewish religious use: siddurim (prayer books), makhzorim (High Holy Day prayer books), Tzena U'Re'ena (The Yiddish rendition of the Pentateuch favored by womenfolk), Shevet-Musar,[4] other books, and also fringed garments, phylacteries and mezuzahs. They were called Pakn-Treger.[5] They would wander from city to city with these packages. They would especially come around the eve of the High Holy Days, or other Festival holidays. They would store their merchandise in the Bet HaMedrash. Among the various sacramental objects, there were also secular items, items pertaining to the larger world, and story books.
These Pakn-Treger began taking along other kinds of books, which they would keep hidden, not mixing them with sacred works, and prayer books. These Pakn-Treger would wink at the young people, that they have items for them, that were set out on top. These secret trayf-possul[6] [books] consisted of stories and novels in Yiddish from רמ”ש [sic: Nahum Mayer] Shykevich, and others. The heroes of these encompassing novels were not from Jewish life, rather, there were frightening stories described there, of kings, princes and princesses, counts and thieves… but for this type of merchandise there were very few buyers, who could allow themselves [the luxury] of buying these books.
It was the previously-mentioned David Fekher who came to the assistance of those who wanted to read such story books. He would negotiate with the Pakn-Treger for such books, and later, he would lend them out for a few groschen loan fee. In the city, a variety of groups and circles formed, who would read books together, and they did so especially on the Sabbath. The place where they read was in the orchards, or near the river on the side benches. I remember how we, as a group, would lie on a hillock near the Russian Orthodox Church, one person reading out loud, and the rest listened. One section was read, and a messenger was sent to David Fekher to ask for a second section. We would lay around for many long hours, dreaming away about far off worlds, in palaces, forests, and worlds without order.
This persisted until the year 1905, and a labor movement was initiated among the Jewish youth, that I have previously described. The cultural activity, the courses for reading and writing, and afterwards, the various partisan literature, brochures, proclamations, periodicals. This literature was exclusively in Yiddish. A large circle of Yiddish readers was created, which now demanded a Yiddish literature. From the other side, the Yiddish writers, seeing that there is an audience, began to slake the thirsty young people with such reading material, which it needed.
[Page 386]
After the conference in Czernowitz[7] in 1908, when Yiddish was proclaimed a national language, a movement was created among the young people of Zamość, which agreed to set itself the goal to promote Yiddish, and that Yiddish should be read and spoken. People who spoke foreign languages were already being treated with sarcasm.
By then, there were those among the young people, who possessed personal small libraries of the best Yiddish writing. I do not recall who was the initiator, that a community Yiddish library should be created, or it is possible that it arose spontaneously among a few people. Regardless of how it was, this matter led to an organizational meeting. Gedaliah Hoffman allocated a room in his home, which was on the third floor, and young couples went out all over the city to gather books and funds. Most of the young people took part in this initiative. In a very short time, a library came into being, true, in a small room, without many books, but with a large circle of enthusiastic readers and volunteer workers, who thought of their work as a sacred duty.
From this beginning, there arose a large, well-known library in Zamość, renown throughout the Jewish world, which in recent times was known as the I. L. Peretz Library. From the private little room, it was transferred to its own large premises. A struggle for control and direction began, and the leadership elected the workers in the library, under the direction of the Bund; Later on, the library went over into other hands. At a specific point in time, the Polish police laid a heavy hand on that institution which had been built up with such effort and dedication. The library remain shut closed and barren for a very long time.
The First HeHalutz Group
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The founding of the first HeHalutz group came out during the time of the First World War, 1914-1917. Immediately after the outbreak of the war, the Austrian military immediately entered the city. However, quickly and in a short period of time, we went over from the hands of [Czar] Nicholas [II] to those of Kaiser Franz-Joseph. The Russians entered again, and a reception committee was established to welcome back the Russian rulers. The committee gathered all sorts of good things from the city, and long tables were set out in the marketplace, with food, drink, cigarettes, and sweets, which was distributed for free to the Russian soldiers that were marching by.
The Poles also received the returning Russian soldiers, and they told them that the Jews trafficked with the Austrians, that they, the Jews, thought of the Austrians as their Messiah, and that also the Austrians trafficked with the Jews. And there was no lack of hooligans and Jew-haters in the Russian Army.
It was told, incidentally, that in the Russian military, which had entered Zamość at that time, that the renown hooligan from the Beilis trial, named Golubov, was among them. He seized a group of 19 Jews and put them up against a wall, where a detachment of the military shot them down. Among those shot, was Yeshaya, the son of the Rabbi, a youth of 18 years, Israel Hahn, Moshe Ehrlich, and others. Most of those shot were in the committee that had prepared the reception for the Russian soldiers, which was why they didn't seek to hide themselves at this very dangerous point in time. (There are a variety of details presented about this incident in our Pinkas).
[Page 387]
After this incident, the Jews of Zamość began to flee into Russia and concentrated themselves in the cities of Pinsk, Minsk, Berdichev and other places. In Zamość proper, there remained a much reduced number of Jews. When the Austrians took the city for the second time, the Jews were no longer able to return, because they found themselves far behind the Russian front.
I myself ran away from the Russian Army and came back to the city in 1917. I found Zamość to be abandoned. The housing stock didn't suffer from the war, but it was the Jewish residents who were somehow the homeless.
In that time, several tens of us young people, gathered in Hirsch-Chaim Geliebter's house, and we laid a foundation for community activity – we founded the ‘Tze'irei Tzion.’
The organization brought a vitality into the city. I remember the Saturdays, when gatherings would occur; evening courses were created for Hebrew; concerts and entertainment. At the same time, we created the first pioneering group, named ‘Haver.’ Our first activity was cultural – we studied Hebrew, the geography of Israel, the history of the Yishuv in the Land of Israel. It was Hirsch-Chaim Geliebter who came to our assistance in this regard, who previously had been in Israel and studied at the Herzliya Gymnasium in Jaffa.
In order not to arrive in Israel empty-handed, we applied ourselves to learning how to work the land. But where could one learn how to work the land in Poland? We needed to find Jewish peasants or Jewish businesses, who would agree to take us in to be taught. To this end, we traveled about the villages around Zamość, Chelm, Tomaszow, Hrubieszow and Lublin. Indeed, we did find Jewish wealthy people, but they didn't wan to take us in, everyone having a different excuse.
After a great deal of travel and searching, we finally found a Jewish agricultural business near Izbica. This was the village of Sredni, where the Kezman brothers had a business. It was a model agricultural business, and there was something to be learned from it. But they too didn't open their door and gate to us. After extensive negotiations, they agreed to take in 4 of our men. Our group consisted of 10 men, and we did not want to break up. Finally, they took us in, and gave us a room for all ten people, 9 men and one young woman. A wreckage of a room, about four by four. We put in an endless amount of work until we cleaned up the room, and made it possible to come into it. The crowding was frightful. The same room served as a dining room, a bedroom, and a kitchen. We would receive raw products, and we would cook ourselves. Later on, we got some small amounts of money for expenses.
Life was happy. Every day, after work in the field, we felt elated, and our singing carried over the entire village. In honor of the Sabbath, each of us could have traveled home, but it was rare that we did this.
In this fashion, a year's time of our preparation went by, until the news arrived of the Balfour Declaration, and we, like true peasants, decided that this was the right time to travel to the Land of Israel and demonstrate what we could do.
Now our burdensome journey first begins. We sent emissaries to Warsaw, to let them know about us. The Central Office, however, gave us an advisory: – remain in Zamość until we call you.
In a short period of time, we receive news that they are traveling already from Lublin. So we run to Lublin, and we learn that Lublin had heard that ‘they’ are traveling already from Zamość….
The periodical HaPoel HaTza'ir would occasionally get through to us from the Land of Israel. We thirstily read every news item. We were especially inspired by the portrait of ‘HaShomer’ – the guardian of Jewish property and honor.
A news item reaches us that we can travel from Vienna. Not giving the matter much thought, we get on the road. We decide that we will make a collective treasury, and that nobody can make individual purchases. We form a real commune. We travel together and reach Krakow. At that precise point, war breaks out between Poland and Czechoslovakia. The border cannot be crossed, and we make an attempt through a second place – through Sosnowiec. It becomes evident that our funds are insufficient and we return to Zamość.
[Page 388]
We begin to make an effort to make a legal trip. Two men, myself and Yitzhak Beitel went to the Starosta and request passes to leave the country – we want to travel to Palestine. The Starosta related sympathetically to the issue, – if only all the Jews would go to Palestine! And in a couple of weeks later, the passports arrived for us from Warsaw.
Then we have to travel to Warsaw to get the visas. We are to travel on Sunday, and on Saturday, the ‘Red Rebellion’ breaks out. It appears that a group of legionnaires had declared themselves to be ‘Red’ and together with the local workers, declared Zamość to be a Red City. A red flag was hung from the Magistrate. This Red rule lasted for 24 hours, and on the following day, other Polish legionnaires arrived, ‘Whites,’ and re-took the city. The ‘Red’ and ‘White’ legionnaires unite and go to look for communists – and you can appreciate that these were – the Jews.
An assault is made against the Jewish houses, there is robbery, and arrests are made. Up to 170 Jews are crammed into the jail, and I am among them.
There follows two weeks of torturous inquisition. There is intervention at the highest levels in Warsaw, telegrams from relatives to the Jewish deputies in the Sejm with Yitzhak Greenbaum at their head. In the end: a commission comes from Warsaw and all the Jews are released.
And here, yet another disappointment awaited us. The leader of the Palestinian office, Mr. Levita, received us angrily, with shouting and banging on the table – nobody will travel until an order arrives from the Zionist leadership in London!…
So we went directly to the consulate, and indeed, we obtained the transit visas from the Czech, Austrian and Italian consuls. The only thing we were missing was the English visa. We traveled to Vienna. There we went around aimlessly for 4 months, until we received the French visa to Beirut. Through Trieste, where we boarded an Italian freighter, without food or beds. After 15 days, we arrived in Alexandria in Egypt, where we made a new attempt to enter the English consulate and we obtained the entry visa to Jaffa without difficulty.
In the Jaffa port we yet had a bit of a fright. Jumping down into the Arab dinghies, my friend Yitzhak Beitel fell into the sea, but he was pulled out in a minute, alive. We achieved our objective.
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At the end of this memoir about the genesis of the Zamość HeHalutz, I would like to remember the names of the dear comrades of our first group, who are no longer with us.
Shlomo Reichenstein, died in Ein-Harod;
Levi Rapaport, died in Jerusalem;
Moshe Baum, died in Zamość
Joshua Rose, Killed in Poland;
Abraham Harf, killed in an automobile accident in Israel in the year 1962.
Let us honor their memory!
[Page 389]
The unusual manifestation were the musicians in our city. They all belonged to one family – this profession was passed from father to son, and afterwards to grandchildren. They were called the Blooms, even though their family name was Sznycer.
How Sznycer got changed into ‘Bloom’ is related in the following story: once upon a time, a messenger arrived from the [sic: local] Nobleman, to summon the musicians for a ball. The peasant began to make inquiries, as to where the musicians lived, so someone responded that he most certainly was referring to Binyomi'leh. From Binyomi'leh, the peasant made ‘Bloom’ and that is the way the name stayed for generations.[8]
The ‘Blooms’ were simple Jews, and knew their craft well. They would enliven the parents of the bride and groom and the guests at weddings. If the wedding was for a rich Jew, then the entire ensemble went to play; to a simple wedding, middle-of-the-road wedding, part of the ensemble. When there happened to be several weddings on the same day, then the grandchildren also were incorporated with the musicians. These minors actually could not play, but they held the instruments, so that onlookers would think that they were playing. It was a bout this family, that I. L. Peretz wrote his wondrous tale about the death of a musician.
The musicians played not only for weddings. They were retained to play on other occasions. And in was in this manner that they appeared in the ceremony of escorting a new Sefer Torah into the Synagogue. The Torah Scroll would be carried under a canopy and the ensemble went in front of it and played. On the festival days under the rule of the Czars, at the time of the coronation of the Czar, when the Mi Sheberakh blessing was recited in the Synagogue, the orchestra would play the Russian National Anthem after the Cantor's Mi Sheberakh. No theater troupe could ever perform without the musicians – whether these were professional artists or our own amateurs. The same was true of dance evenings, celebrations, or other events. Also, the surrounding vicinity was serviced by them. Most often they would play in the gardens of the nobility, where balls took place frequently. They made good money by doing this.
The times of the Polish boycott of the Jews arrived, and this affected our ‘Blooms.’ A certain Pole, Namislovski, founded a peasant's orchestra, a modern one, and they usurped the place of the ‘Blooms’ with the nobles. The musicians then took to other lines of work, and trade as well.
After several years of the boycott, the occasion arose for a great ball at the house of a Nobleman. The young nobles invited Namislovski's orchestra. The old Nobleman, however, wanted the merriment to be like it was in the old days, and he invited the ‘Blooms,’ to enliven the guests in their style. When the night of the ball arrived, Binyomi'leh called his sons, and instructed them it will be necessary to prepare themselves very well for the ball. He forbade everyone in his ensemble to drink at the ball – in order to remain alert. His sons heeded his behest. For the whole night, both orchestras played, one after the other; the drunken guests were required to offer an opinion about the music. Before dawn, the old Noble asked of the ‘Blooms’ that they should play a ‘Kanarikl.’ This was one of the really artistic pieces of this ensemble, which the Noble had heard more than once. The ensemble played this ‘Kanarikl’ like never before. Their performance captivated everyone. The old Noble was moved to tears, and all the guests stood and applauded ‘Bravo!’ Namislovski went over and shook the hand of the boycotted Jewish musicians. Binyomi'leh's ensemble left the ball with great honor.
[Page 390]
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the son of Melekh Ravitch |
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The Wechter family was well-known in our city. All of them, like their father belonged to the medical world.
The head of the family, Moshe Rofeh, filled an important post in the city. Despite the fact that he did not have a physician's diploma, he was a feldscher, he was inundated with work. During the time of the First World War, Zamość had two Jewish doctors (the Geliebters), and two Christian doctors. So the entire population, from the city and the surroundings, peasants, came to Moshe Rofeh. Moshe Rofeh served everyone with dedication. He took [only] small change from the poor, and from the really impoverished, nothing. He was a man of the people, not following ‘style,’ and did not assimilate.
Like the father, so was the entire family. The eldest son Shlomo completed university studies. When he once came home from Petersburg in a military uniform of a high rank, it made a really big impression in the city. Dr. Shlomo Wechter died in Israel, in Tel-Aviv in the year 1953, where he worked in the clinic for the ill of the Histadrut. He was greatly revered by his colleagues and patients alike.
It was the second son, Itcheh'leh, who inherited his father's place. When Itcheh'leh finished his medical studies, his father took him along to see patients for quite a while. When Moshe Rofeh died, Itcheh'leh took over his father's clientele, which was the entire city and its surroundings. Even though there were doctors in the city by now, the sick people would come to Itcheh'leh, who inherited all the good traits from his father, of simplicity, and sympathy. He also carried himself like his father, Moshe Rofeh, with regard to his dignity.
Shimon Wechter was a later son. He had a pharmacy establishment. Now it can be told – Shimon prepared the medications in accordance with the prescriptions of his brother Itcheh'leh. For the sick people, this was very convenient, and cheaper. It just happened to be ‘illegal’ from the standpoint of the regime, because Shimon did not have a diploma in Pharmacy.
The crown of the family, however was Baylah the Grandmother. She was the midwife for the entire city, and she had a reputation for her pair of blessed hands.
She was considered the grandmother of most of the children in the city. One always ran into her on her way to mothers in confinement; day and night; summer and winter. When she came into the home of an expectant mother, she had to do all the work, the simplest of the preparations. Very often, she had already delivered children to the same woman, and she had not been paid for the prior births. She did her work quietly and energetically and incidentally cheered up the family.
‘Baylah the Grandmother’ lived to a ripe old age, it is said to over 100 years, she worked until her daughter-in-law, Itcheh'leh's wife, took over from her.
The following fact demonstrates the degree to which Baylah the Grandmother was beloved by the people. When she died, all the mothers and grandmothers came, whose children she had delivered, and lit a memorial light in the room where she lay. There was no longer any space left in the room where candles could be put, and so they began to put them in the corridor, in the front room. For each child that Baylah the Grandmother helped bring into the world, a candle was lit. Thousands of candles burned. This was a picture that would never be forgotten by anyone who saw it.
Translator's footnotes:
Translated by Daniel Field
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