Łowicz, Poland

Lowicz; a Town in Mazovia, Memorial Book
(Łowicz, Poland)

52°07' / 19°56'

Translation of
Lowicz; ir be-Mazovia u-seviva, sefer zikaron

Editor: G. Shaiak

Published in Tel Aviv 1966

Acknowledgments
Project Coordinator
Chaim Eisman

Our sincere appreciation to Yad Vashem
for the submission of the necrology for placement on the JewishGen web site.

Our sincere appreciation to Helen Rosenstein Wolf & Genia Hollander
for typing up the English text to facilitate its addition to this project.

This is a translation of: Lowicz; ir be-Mazovia u-seviva, sefer zikaron (Lowicz; a town in Mazovia, memorial book),
Editor: G. Shaiak, Former Residents of Lowicz in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Tel Aviv 1966 (H,Y,E 417 pages)

Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Lowicz

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Yiddish translated by Gloria Berkenstat Freund

Hebrew translated by Esther Snyder

Kine [Lament for catastrophes in Jewish history]	Y. L. Bialer	6
Preface	G. Szaiak	11

History
Lowicz from the Ancient Times to the Present	G. Szaiak	15
Reflections on Ancient Lowicz	A. Wartski	32
The Misfortune on Hoshana Rabbah, 1914		36

From the Distant and Recent Past
Episodes and Events	Y. D. Tojbenfeld	39
History of the Jewish Kehile [organized Jewish Community]	A. Wartski	47
First Strike of the Middle Class Children	L. Sigal	59
Jewish Renaissance in My Home City	Y. Kronenberg	61
First Jewish Craftsman's Union		64
Between Both World Wars
The Jewish Lowicz in the Years 1914-28	Y. M. Zylberberg	65
Jewish Representatives in the Municipality	A. Wartski	69
A Proletarian Home for Children	Y. Kronenberg	84
The Lowicz Kehile and its Parnosim [elected heads of the community]	F.Tanenbaum	87

Memories/Memoirs and Impressions
Lowicz in My Memory	D. Rozental	88
Students of the Government's Folkshul [public school] Perform Yiddish Theater	Tzwi Miodownik	103
Czarist Regime Disciplines/Punishes a Jew for Saving a General	Y.D. Chanina	104
The First Librarian - 1908	Y. M. Hermelin	107
Remembrances of My Home City	Akiva Mozes	107
The Bal-Menagn [Cantor] of Lowicz	Chaim Gurt	109
Nakhum Sakalow	Y. D. Tojbenfeld	111
The Hasidic Proletariat	F. Rotsztajn	113

Personalities and Images/Figures
Reb Hezekiah	The Rabbi Tzwi Kochen	115
Yehoshua Mozes	Y. M. Zylberberg	118
The Painter W. Wajntrob	N. Szaiak	119
Y. M. Zylberberg	A. Wartski	122
The Rabbi, Betzalel Biderman, of blessed memory	Y. C. Toybnfeld	124
Lowicz in the Lustre of the Torah (Rabbis)		126
Hasidus and Hasidim		126
The Hidden Lamed-Vovnik [one of 36 righteous men in every generation]	D. Zik	127

Portraits
Reb Leizer Borukh Zajde		130
Moshe Leib Celechowski		132
Reb Itshe Adler		134
Avraham Leszcynski		135
Engineer Z. Slonimski		138
Mordekhai Bialek		138
Engineer M. A. Bialek		139
Dr. Yakov Bialek		140
Anatol Weksztajn		141
Dr. Jakubowski		143
Ben-Tzion Medzinski		144
Borukh Szapiro		145
A. W. Fefer		146
Dr. Eliezer Wartski		147
Alter Winer		148
Reb Chaim-Sholem Hermelin		149
Reb Chaim Ferber Kohan		150
Yakov Szajnberg		151
Reb Shlomo Ahron Sztift	Meshulam Lewin	153
The Palace of the Kibbutzim	G. Szaiak	156
The Feldsher [barber-surgeon], M. Knot	Hershl Berkowicz	160
Lowiczer Folklore		162

Parties and Organizations
Pioneers and Workers of the Zionist Movement	A.Wartski	164
Professional Workers Movement	Josef Wyszogrodzki	173
Zionist Youth Organizations	Tzwi Miodownik	176
Dramatic Amateur Circles in Hahalutz [Zionist pioneer movement]	D. Golomb	179
Jewish Sports Clubs	Mordekhai Tamir	181
The Communist Youth		183
Regional Sports Day in Lowicz		185
Managing Committees of the Societies and Institutions (1939)		186

Lowicz in Yiddish Literature
The Annual Fair	Shalom Ash	188
Poland	I. I. Trunk	189
Kutno – Lowicz	I. Mastboim	191
The Enlightenment–Bank	Nachum Sokolov	192
Fritz Lashes my Great–grandfather	Y. Path	192
Lose the Winnings	G. Szaiak	193
As Mourners at a Wedding	Sholem Asch	197

Resistance and Spiritual Strength
Lowiczer Partisan Triplets	Chaim Rochwerger	199
Fell in the Resistance in Birkenau	Yosl Darembos	205
Fernande Goes to her Death of her own Free Will		206
He Escaped from the Stalag to the Maquis [French resistance]	Shiye Leib Gemach	206
In the Units of the Armia Krajowa [Home Army]	Mendl Albek	207
The Vichy-Police Gave Them a Wedding Present	F. Markowitz	208
Lowicz in Pictures		209

The Holocaust – The Shoah
The River Disappeared And with it the Jews	G. Tcharneson–Shayak	220
My Visit to Lowitz in 1945	L. Segal	221
Devastation of the Jewish Community in Lowicz (Ghetto Diary)		223
The Transfer to the Warsaw Ghetto	T. Brusteen–Bernstein (Warsaw)	228
A Soup–Kitchen for Refugees in Lowicz		229
Writings from the Ghetto	I. Ringelblum	231

Witnesses Speak
My Transformation/Metamorphis Through Death Camps	Moshe Zajde	234
On the Aryan Side	Noakh Klajnbart	242
On Forced Labour in Germany	Sarah (Milewski) Szmekura	248
Experiences in Four Ghettos	Shimeon Kon	254
Episodes from the Lowicz Ghetto	Henia Koczukh	258
Nuns Help Us to Hide	Meshulam Lewin	260
In a Bunker on the Aryan Side	Menakhem Pera	265
A Wanton Game of Nazi Youth	Yona Olsztajn	269
Finding My Brother in a Death Camp	B. Krifel	270
From the Death Camp to the Fight in the Negev	Y. Grynberg	273
How I Saved Myself	Sh. Buchner	276
Across Burning Roads	C. Danciger	277
In the Shadows of Dachau	Ezriel Winer	278
In the Death March Near the Bzura	Yukl Slobodzinski	278

In the Allied Armies
My Wish to Fight as a Jew	Gedaliah Konopnicki	282
With the White Russian Army Until Berlin	Shimeon Kano	284
Sargeant Marcel Putermilch, of blessed memory		286
On the Doorstep of My Devastated Home	Moshe Wolrat	287
In the Australian Army		289
In the French Army		290

Creations by the Lowiczer Poets
A Song from My Old Home	M. Trajanow	294
From Where Such Joy in Our Songs	Sh.D. Lewin	295
The Day Grieves	Sura Wajs	295
Lullaby	H. F. Sztyft	295
Document Poland	H. F. Sztyft	296
Testament	B. F. Rozenblat	296
“The Mother” and “Over the Shtetl” [town]	F. Gudman	296
A Market Day	Y. C. Toybnfeld	297
A Memorial and For What?	Y. Kronenberg	298
Memories Images	L. Bialek	299
My Home City	G. Szaiak	300
Tefilot Yisroel [Israel Prayer]	R. Wajntrob	302
On the Bzura River	Y. L. Bialer	302
Lexicon		303-310
The Personality of L. Sigal	M. Braun	311
Louis Sigal - The Polish Jew	Dr. Y. M. Biderman	312
Lowicz - An Industrial Center	Y. D. Ben Hanina	316

Lowiczer Landsmanschaftn [organizations of people from the same town]
Role of the Lowiczer in America	F. Sigal	317
The Founders of Lowiczer Union in Detroit		318
Chicago		320
Lowiczers in Argentina		320
Lowiczers in Melbourne (Australia)		321
Lowiczers in Sydney (Australia)		324
Activities of the Lowiczer in France		326
The Pioneers of the Lowiczer In Australia		326
The Council Committee of the Yizkor Book in Israel		328
Documents		330-333
A Letter from Former Senator, Engineer M. Kerner		334
A Letter from Dr. Jan Wegner		334
News Excerpts and Articles from the Mazowszer Wokhnblat [Mzowszer Weekly Newspaper]		336
“Literary Pages” About Mazowszer Wokhnblat [Mazowszer Weekly Newspaper]		339
Remember	Akiva Frenkel	342
Pictures of Lowiczer Jews who Perished		343-355
List of the Lowiczer Jews who Perished		356-362

The Holocaust in the Neighboring Shtetlekh [towns]
Kiernozia		364
Lishkowitz		365
Sobota		366
Bolimów		367
R'Zerakh Glezer	A. Frenkel	368
Bolimow Between Two Wars	Moshe Mann	369
Jewish Young Men Give the Cossacks a lesson	Leibl Mann	370
We Avenge our Mother's Blood		371
List and Pictures of the Bolimower Jews Who Perished		373-374
Thoughts On the Former Lowicz [H]	A. Wartski	375

Movements and Organizations
The “Mizrahi” Movement and “Torah veAvoda” [H]	Yosef Kreitzer	379
The Jewish Academicians in Lowicz [H]	P. Zelcovski	382
The Revival of Youth Movements in our City [H]	Yehezkel Lipski	383
Sport Activities of the Jews of Lowicz [H]	Mordechai Tamir	384
My Path to the Betar Movement [H]	Yitzhak Baum	385
My Path to HaShomer Hatzair [H]	Tova Gross	386

The Holocaust and Courage
The River Disappeared and with it the Jews [H]	G. Tcharnezen-Shayak	387
Resourcefulness and Strength before Annihilation [H]	Reuven Weintrob	388
The Fighting Partisans from Our Town [H]	Haike Grossman	389

Important Persons
The Rabbis of Lowicz [H]		391
R' Shalom Albeck [H]		391
Sarah Lipski [H]		392
Shlomo Tamir [H]		392
People from Lowicz in Israel's War of Independence [H]		393

List of Illustrations

English Section
Preface	G. Shaiak	1
Lowicz - a Short History of the City and its Jews	G. Shaiak	8
Abraham the Carrier	David Zyk	10
Market Day	M. Spicehandler	13
A River Disappeared	G. Tcharneson-Shaiak	14
Saved from the Gas-chamber	Joseph Szmekura	15
The Lost Wager	G. Shaiak	22
Who's Who		25
Louis Segal		28
Heir and Founder	Moshe Sharet	29
Leader and Brother	Golda Meir	29
Judaism - Static or Dynamic	Dr. Zvi Cahn	30
Lowiczer in the Australian Army		32

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