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52°14' / 19°22'
Translation of
Kutno ve-ha-seviva
Editor: D. Shtokfish
Published in Tel Aviv, 1968, Former Residents of Kutno
and Surroundings in Israel and the Diaspora
Project Coordinator
Our sincere appreciation to Mr. Chaim Menachem Elberg, of the Former Residents of Kutno
This is a translation from: Kutno ve-ha-seviva (Kutno and surroundings book),
Editor: D. Shtokfish, Tel Aviv, 1968, Former Residents of Kutno and Surroundings in Israel and the Diaspora (H,Y, 591 pages)
Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Kutno
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
|
Translated by the Jewish Kutno Group
Note: the original version (Hebrew/Yiddish), French and Spanish versions
are available at the Jewish Kutno Group site http://jewish.kutno.free.fr
| Foreword (H) | Yehoshua ELBAUM, Givataym | 5 |
| Foreword (Y) | Jehoszua ELBAUM, Givataym | 7 |
| I - From the early and near past | ||
| The story of the Jewish community in Kutno (H) | Yeshayahu TRUNK, New York | 11 |
| The story of the Jewish community in Kutno (Y) | Yeshayahu TRUNK, New York | 29 |
| The Kutno Chevra Kadisha at the beginning of the 19th century (Y) | Lipman TZOMBER | 54 |
| II - Daily life, memories, and events | ||
| Kutno (H) | Sh. BABE, Tel Aviv | 59 |
| Kutno (Y) | Sh. BABE, Tel Aviv | 61 |
| I came to Kutno (H) | R' Jonah Baruch KAC z”l | 65 |
| Lottery in 1915, to benefit “Talmud Torah” in Kutno (H) | Aharon Shlomo ELBERG | 67 |
| Kutno during the First World War (Y) | Mirel ERDBERG-SHOTAN, Montreal | 72 |
| Sixty years ago (Y) | Moshe VEINGART, Herzlya | 78 |
| Culture and philanthropy (Y) | Jakob FERNBACH, Naharya | 79 |
| 1905 and later (Y) | Azriel SHIMONOWITZ, Givataym | 80 |
| Greetings From Shalom ASZ's Town (Y) | Y. S. NAYMAN | 82 |
| Kutno's ‘Crawlers’ (Y) | Henoch SZLAJFER, Paris | 84 |
| Kutno Fire-Fighters (Y) | Abraham LUSTIGMAN, Holon | 85 |
| Years of seeking, wrangling and dreams (Y) | Ruben MROZ, Kibbutz Lochamei Ha'Getaot | 86 |
| The old market (Y) | Y. ELBAUM, A. VEIKSELFISH, Z. LASMAN | 88 |
| The old market (H) | Y. ELBAUM, A. VEIKSELFISH, Z. LASMAN | 92 |
| Our Town Before Its Destruction (Y) | Dwora KRAUT-KOHN, México | 97 |
| III - Institutes, political parties, organizations, and companies | ||
| Memories and articles of a community leader (H) | Aharon Shlomo ELBERG | 101 |
| Interview With the President of the Kutno Community, Mr. S. FALC (Y) | S. R. | 110 |
| The last meeting of the Kutno Jewish community council (H) | Natan MOSHKOWITZ, Herzlya | 111 |
| The last meeting of the Kutno Jewish community council (Y) | Natan MOSHKOWITZ, Herzlya | 112 |
| Jewish-Polish Relationships in Kutno 40 Years Ago (Y) | David SHTOKFISH, Ramat Gan | 115 |
| Associative Life, Jewish Community, Municipality (Y) | Aharon MENDELEWICZ z”l, Tel Aviv | 131 |
| The Heavenly Kutno (Y) | Rabbi Mordechai Yehuda LUBART | 136 |
| Religious Life in Our Town (H) | Meir HOREIN (BECHLER), Haifa | 140 |
| The Cheder Yesodei-Torah (Y) | Gershon FOGEL, New York | 143 |
| The Small Gerrer Shtiebel (Y) | Abraham LUSTIGMAN, Tel Aviv | 146 |
| Agudat Israel in Kutno (H) | Arieh ORNER, Haifa | 148 |
| The Zionism in Kutno — Activities and Characters (H) | Yehuda GRINBAUM | 149 |
| The Beginning of Zionist Youth Activity (Y) | by Azriel SZYMONOWICZ, Givatayim | 154 |
| Zionist activity in Kutno (H) | Azriel SHIMONOWITZ, Givataym | 156 |
| The Young Mizrachi Movement (H) | Icchak MAJRANC, Rehovot | 158 |
| Zionist Activity in Our Town (H) | Jakob KLINGBAJL, Holon | 159 |
| The beginning of Beitar (Y) | A. GOLDSZTAJN, Tel Aviv | 160 |
| From “Ha'shachar” Branch in Kutno to “Beitar” (H) | Efraim WAJKSELFISZ, Tel Aviv | 161 |
| On Beitar Activity in Kutno (Y) | Moshe WIGDOROWICZ, Tel Aviv | 166 |
| Organization “Brith Trumpeldor” in Kutno (Y) | Yaakov ZEIDENWAR, Tel Aviv | 169 |
| Ken Hashomer Hatzair in our city (H) | Yehudit RIFTIN, Ein Shemer | 171 |
| “Our eyes are raised to Eretz Yisrael”… (H) | Ita AYALON, Kibbutz Eilon | 172 |
| A glorious page in the history of the Jewish youth in Kutno (H) | Naftali KRUL, Beit Alfa | 173 |
| “Thanks to the Nest of Hashomer Hatzair” (H) | Simcha FRUMER | 175 |
| The General Zionist Pioneer and the Zionist Youth Movements (H) | 177 | |
| The Foundation of the "Young Zionists" and Other Memories (Y) | David MENSZES, Tel Aviv | 178 |
| The youth movement of “Poalei Zion” party (H) | Eliahu KLINGBEIL, Beer Sheva | 183 |
| Jewish Workers' Party “Poalei Zion” and Youth Party “Jugnt” (Y) | Henech SZLAJFER, Paris | 185 |
| Youth Memory From Youth Party (Y) | Yehoshua ELBAUM, Givatayim | 190 |
| Memoirs of a Bundist (Y) | H. CHABUS, Paris | 195 |
| The “Bund” and its Institutions (Y) | Natan MOSZKOWICZ, Herzliya | 196 |
| My Childhood in “SKIF” | Pola MANCZUK–GOLDBERG, Montreal | 198 |
| The Dramatic Circle “Yab” (Y) | Chaim Ben MENSZE, Holon | 199 |
| The Communist Party and its Members (Y) | Chaim GRINBAUM, Holon | 201 |
| Events and Characters in the Communist Party (Y) | Joseph KAM, Lyon | 206 |
| Ten Years in the Society of Friends of YIVO (Y) | Yeszayah TAUB, Melbourne | 207 |
| Our school “Am Ha'Sefer” (H) | Nisan VELTZMAN | 209 |
| The school, Linat Tzedek and the Merchants' union (H) | Efraim VEIKSELFISH | 211 |
| The Organization for Gymnastics and Sport in Kutno (H) | Abraham KOLSKI, Haifa | 215 |
| The First Jewish Sports Club in Kutno (Y) | Menachem KOHN, Besançon (France) | 216 |
| Jewish Sports Clubs in Kutno (Y) | Wolf MANCZYK, Karkour | 217 |
| “Morning Star-Jutrznia”, Its Chairman and Coach (Y) | Chaim GRYNBAUM, Holon | 223 |
| Jewish Socialist Sports Organization “Morning Star” (Y) | Yosel GOLDBERG, Montreal, Canada | 226 |
| Documents, Photos and Newspapers – Jewish Organizations' Life (Y) | A. Kutner | 227 |
| IV - Personalities and characters, fighters, communal and party workers | ||
| In Kutno and outside | ||
| Hagaon R' Y. Y. TRUNK of Kutno (H) | HaRav A. Y. BRUMBERG | 236 |
| The Visit of Harav Hagaon From Kutno in Jerusalem (H) | Pinchas ben Zvi GRAYEVSKY | 239 |
| Sixty-Five Years of the Passing of R' Yehoshe'le, “The Gaon of Kutno”; (H) | Aharon Shlomo ELBERG | 240 |
| A Collection of Memories About Rabbi Yehoshe'le Kutner (Y) | M. Y. SZATAN | 241 |
| The Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda Trunk (Y) | Yeshayahu TRUNK, New York | 243 |
| Shalom ASZ (H) | Shmuel NEIGER | 247 |
| Shalom ASZ (Y) | Yitzhak CHARLASZ | 249 |
| Literary Eternity and Shalom Asz (Y) | Melech RAWICZ | 252 |
| Shalom Asz in His Twilight Years (H) | Mordechai CHALAMISH, Tel Aviv | 253 |
| At the Funeral of Shalom ASZ's Mother in Kutno (Y) | Y. Sh. GOLDSZTAJN | 255 |
| Shalom ASZ and Motke (H) | Zvi ASZ, Nahariya | 257 |
| The Shtetl of Shalom Asz and Its Heroes (H) | Avraham LUSTIGMAN, Tel Aviv | 257 |
| The Shtetl of Shalom Asz and Its Heroes (Y) | Abraham LUSTIGMAN, Tel Aviv | 258 |
| House of Szalom ASZ in Bat Yam (Y) | Ytzchak TURKOW | 259 |
| Kutno Rabbis, Sages and Authors (H) | Aharon Shlomo, son of R' Ze'ev Zvi z”l ELBERG | 259 |
| Mr. Jonathan Majranc (H) | Yitzhak MAJRANC | 265 |
| Yehuda RIFTIN z”l (H,Y) | Moshe MAYZELS, A. MENDLEWITZ | 266 |
| In memory of Abraham RIFTIN (H) | Yaakov RIFTIN, Ein Shemer | 266 |
| The FALC Family (H) | Y. ELBAUM | 267 |
| The Rabbi Abraham Borenstein (H) | Anker ALEXANDER | 268 |
| Yekhiel-Shaye TRUNK (Y) | Chaim Lajb FUKS | 268 |
| Israel Yehoshua TRUNK (Y) | Chaim Lajb FUKS | 270 |
| Yeszayahu Trunk (Y) | Chaim Lajb FUKS | 271 |
| Israel TRANK (Y) | Israel GOLDKORN, Tel Aviv | 271 |
| Lipman COMBER (Y) | Prof. Rafael MAHLER | 273 |
| Baynish ZYLBERSHTEIN (Y) | Marek RAKOVSKI | 273 |
| Yaakov OSOWSKI and His Family (H) | Ruth HOLANDER-OSOWSKI, Jerusalem | 273 |
| Tea ARCISZEWSKA — The Stage Artist and Writer (Y) | Henech SZLAJFER, Paris | 274 |
| About Our Spiritual Figures (Y) | Natan MOSZKOWICZ, Herzliya | 275 |
| Some Scholars and Businessmen (Y) | Aryeh ORNER, Haifa | 277 |
| Our Cantors (Y) | Moshe WIGDOROWICZ, Tel Aviv | 278 |
| Chaim TYBER (Y) | Joseph SANDLER | 279 |
| From Kutno to Moscow (Y) | Chaim GRYNBAUM, Holon | 281 |
| The Painter Shimon AVNY (Y) | Arbeter VORT, Paris | 281 |
| Kutner Figures (Y) | Yaakov FERNBACH, Naharyah | 282 |
| R' Yitzhak (Itshe) Meir SZAPIRO (The Ritual Slaughterer) (H) | Daniel Leib SZAPIRO | 283 |
| Mr. Chaim WALTER Hy”d and Mindel z”l (H) | Abraham and Israel WALTER, Ramat Gan | 285 |
| The “Litvak of Kutno” (Y) | Rivka GWIRCMAN | 286 |
| Our Home (H, Y) | Efraim WAJKSELFISZ, Tel Aviv | 287 |
| David KALMAN, z”l (Y) | A. MENDLEWITZ, Tel Aviv | 290 |
| Meir and Anna BOZHIKOVSKI (Y) | 290 | |
| Yehuda (Juliusz) LIPSKI (Y) | 290 | |
| My father, of blessed memory, Avigdor GROMAN (Y) | Ester VOLFSKAL-GROMAN | 291 |
| Laybel PANKER (Y) | 291 | |
| Noah GURKER (Y) | Abraham LUSTIGMAN, Holon | 292 |
| The Public Health Sanitary Worker Mosze Lajb ZAK (Y) | Abraham LUSTIGMAN, Holon | 292 |
| The Righteous Villager (Y) | Abraham LUSTIGMAN, Holon | 293 |
| Mendel RACK (Y) | Abraham LUSTIGMAN, Holon | 293 |
| In the KUCZINSKIS' Home (Y) | Bracha-Tsipora LAMSKI-BILD | 293 |
| In memory of a Jewish Family (Y) | Jadzia GRABINSKY, México | 294 |
| R' Aharon LAMSKI (H) | 295 | |
| Our Parents Jakob IZRAEL and Roza JAWEC (H) | Rywka FISZER (JAWEC) and Laja JAWEC | 295 |
| David KLETSHEVSKI z”l (H) | Ytzchak KLETSHEVSKI | 295 |
| Abraham Menashe KATZ (Y) | Chenoch H. HOFFMAN, Paris | 295 |
| Mr. David LUSTMAN z”l and His Family (H) | Kalman LUSTMAN | 296 |
| My Grandfather David KOLSKI (H) | His grandsons Yehoshua, Menachem & Abraham | 296 |
| Hersz-Majer and Chana RAK (H) | The Children | 297 |
| Chaim-Noah BAGNO z”l (H) | Sara BAGNO-FEINER | 297 |
| Yosele the GOLDSMITH and His Family (Y) | Esther KORN-NATAN | 298 |
| Icchak Majer and Zyse Frajde SZPIRO (Y) | Masze SZPIRO-ZHURAWSKI | 299 |
| The GORSZKOWICZ Family (Y) | Azriel SZYMONOWICZ, Givatayim | 299 |
| My Family (H) | Moshe MAISELS (Tivon) | 299 |
| The people of Kutno in the building and the wars of Eretz Israel | ||
| The First Ones — and Those Who Followed Them (H) | 300 | |
| True Charity (H) | The WELCMAN family | 302 |
| Issachar-Dov BAR-DRORA (FRAJER) (H) | David TIDHAR | 303 |
| Dr. Abraham GLIKSMAN (Y) | 304 | |
| Dr. Yehuda Meir Bromberg-Bavly (H) | 304 | |
| Eliyahu-Eliezer-Mordechai ELBERG (H) | David TIDHAR | 305 |
| Azriel Yosef ELBERG (H) | David TIDHAR | 305 |
| N. TIGER – His Way and Life (H) | N. MOSZKOWICZ, A. BERDICZEWSKI, Y. RIFTIN | 305 |
| The RAUER Family (Y) | 307 | |
| Shmuel Halevi LAZNOWSKI (H) | David TIDHAR | 307 |
| Yaakov SCHWARTZ (H) | Efraim DEKEL | 309 |
| Independence War | ||
| Chaim FUKS (H) | 311 | |
| Chaim FISZ (H) | 311 | |
| Zvi SHAPIRO (H) | 311 | |
| David METAL (PELED) (H) | Zvi NAIMAN, M. CHOVEV | 312 |
| Moshe PLOCER (H) | 313 | |
| Eliahu (Alex) SZARECKI (H) | 313 | |
| Abraham SZYMONOWICZ z”l (H) | 314 | |
| Arieh GRINBAUM (H) | Yechezkel, Ch. and Moshe TABENKIN | 314 |
| Lt. PNUEL (Nachman FALC) (H) | Yechiel KADISHAI | 315 |
| Efraim FIRSTENBERG z”l (H) | Y. K. | 316 |
| Eli ELIAV z”l (H) | Y. K. and Mother | 316 |
| Six-Day War | ||
| Captain Yoram (ZANDBERG) HARPAZ z”l (H) | Chaya LAZER | 317 |
| V - The Shoah and the Struggle | ||
| Kutno, My Hometown (Y) | Mirel ERDBERG-SZATAN | 321 |
| Yitgadal V'Yitkadash (H) | by Shalom ASZ | 322 |
| Kutno in E. Ringelblum's “News from Warsaw Ghetto” (Y) | 326 | |
| Kutno and Surroundings During the Years of Occupation (Y) | 327 | |
| Poles Tell About the Kutno Ghetto (Y) | 328 | |
| The Decline of Jewish Kutno (H) | Yeshayahu TRUNK, New York | 331 |
| The Decline of Jewish Kutno (Y) | Yeshayahu TRUNK, New York | 340 |
| At the Beginning of the Second World War (Y) | Zvi LASMAN, Givatayim | 354 |
| Kutno in the Days of War (Y) | Wolf MANCZIK, Karkour, Israel | 355 |
| A Terrible Day (Y) | Natan KLAR, Tel Aviv | 357 |
| Six Days in Leczyca camp (Y) | Yosef GOLDBERG, Montreal | 358 |
| The Escape Before Death (H) | Arieh WEISBROT, Haifa | 360 |
| Five Years of Life in Hell (Y) | Lozer JAKUBOWICZ, USA | 362 |
| In Ghettos and in Camps (Y) | Abraham LIFSHITZ, Ohio, USA | 364 |
| My Experience in the Camps (Y) | Berel BALZAMOWICZ, Montreal, Canada | 365 |
| In Konstancja, Gabin, Plock, Strzegowo (Y) | Lucia STUCZYŃSKA | 366 |
| In Kutno Ghetto (Y) | Pinchas OSOWSKI, Rishon LeZion | 370 |
| Two Letters From Kutno Ghetto (Y) | Bella WALCER | 373 |
| Two songs from ghetto Konstancja (Y) | Tamar KOWALSKA, Tel Aviv | 375 |
| The Shoah Era in France (Y) | Bernard HOFFMAN, Paris | 376 |
| Chelmno – The Death Camp (H) | 381 | |
| On the Fronts and the Anti-Nazi Underground | ||
| Kutners in the Second World War (H) | Efraim WAJKSELFISZ, Tel Aviv | 384 |
| The Last Battle of the Kutno Jewish Soldiers (Y) | Zyskind BIBERGAL, New York | 386 |
| Soldiers on the front, partisans, underground fighters (Y) | Yehuda SZTAJN, Ch. H. HOFFMAN, Paris | 388 |
| Bernard Pons Helps Capture a German Division (Y) | H. BAUM | 389 |
| The Big Wandering (Y) | Moshe Pinchas SZPIRO, London | 390 |
| Monte Casino (Y) | Anszel FRAJND, London | 393 |
| The Revenge (H) | Szmuel LARON (FALC), Tel Aviv | 394 |
| The Revenge (Y) | Shmuel LARON (FALC), Tel Aviv | 395 |
| The Ghetto Fighters Israel and Salo KANAL (Y) | 396 | |
| List of permanent members of the Jewish Kutner Committee (1945) (Y) | 398 | |
| VI - After the liberation | ||
| Kutno after liberation (H) | Zvi LASMAN, Givataym | 401 |
| In liberated Kutno (Y) | Efraim VEIKSELFISH, Tel Aviv | 402 |
| In liberated Kutno (H) | Efraim VEIKSELFISH, Tel Aviv | 405 |
| Kutno Without Jews (Y) | 407 | |
| In My Kutno After the Destruction (Y) | Moshe PIETRKOWSKI, Brazil | 408 |
| In My Hometown (Y) | by Yeshayahu TRUNK, New York | 419 |
| VII - Surrounding towns: Leczyca, Krosniewice, Dabrowice | ||
| History of the City (Y) | 425 | |
| On the History of Łęczyca (Y) | Rabbi Yitzhak Yedidia FRENKEL, Tel Aviv | 426 |
| Memories of the Old Life (Y) | Shimshon LUSNER | 432 |
| Our Shtetl Leczyca (Y) | Sh. ROGERS, Melbourne | 436 |
| The Sports–Club “Hakoach” in Łęczyca (Y) | Zalman BORNSZTAJN, Australia | 438 |
| How the Jews of Łęczyca Perished (Y) | Mosze SZERPINSKI, David VACHTEL z”l | 439 |
| The Death of the Jews of Łęczyca (Y) | Abraham WISHEGRODSKI, Australia | 440 |
| The Ten Who Were Hanged (Y) | Zalman BORNSZTAJN, Melbourne, Australia | 441 |
| Leczycers in France (Y) | Dawid WACHTEL z”l, Paris | 443 |
| Leczycers in Australia (Y) | Shlomo ROGOZYNSKI (ROGERS), Melbourne | 443 |
| My Town Krosniewice (Y) | Chananel HOFFMAN, Toulouse (France) | 445 |
| Childhood Memories from Krosniewice (Y) | Rafael-Hersh PACANOWSKI, Manchester | 450 |
| The Jewish Community of Dabrowice (Y) | Hanoch-Henech HOFFMAN, Paris | 452 |
| The Bestial Assassination of the Rabbi of Dąbrowice ztz”L (Y) | Bernard HOFFMAN | 460 |
| VIII - People of Kutno and around in Israel and in Diaspora | ||
| Report on the organization's activities in Israel (H) | Secretariat | 465 |
| Report on the organization's activities in Israel (Y) | Secretariat | 467 |
| Shalom Asz Near His Townsmen in Israel (Y) | Abraham Lustigman, Tel Aviv | 472 |
| Kutners in the USA (Y) | 474 | |
| Kutners in France (Y) | Henech SZLAJFER, Paris | 475 |
| The Homeland Society in Canada (Y) | 482 | |
| Kutners in México (Y) | 483 | |
| Greetings from a Kutner in Soviet Russia (Y) | Jakob OSOWSKI | 487 |
| A Letter From Moscow (Y) | Lifshe Osowski | 492 |
| Kutner survivors in Germany (1945-1947) (Y) | 493 | |
| IX - Eternal Pages | ||
| List of martyrs | 496 | |
| Mourning notices in Israel | 522 | |
| In France and Belgium | 562 | |
| In England | 576 | |
| In Australia | 577 | |
| In the USA | 578 | |
| Canada | 584 | |
| México | 585 | |
| Photographs from book | ||
| Name Index | ||
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