[ Page 37 ]

with village White Russian peasants. The Poles knew how and when to market their agricultural produce. They weren't fond of the Jewish middleman, and thereby pushed him out of his position. Later on, when the Polish boycott against the Jews came out in the open, the Poles went ahead and set up their own cooperatives in town and in the villages, and incited the peasants to refrain from buying from Jews. The peasants, were in any event already impoverished by the high taxes, and their purchasing power was greatly reduced.

        A shortage in heating material also developed because the Polish authorities prohibited cutting down trees and the sale of firewood. For the first time in the history of Drohitchin, people were forced to heat their ovens with coal that a few Drohitchin merchants brought to town from the Polish coalmines. With the ban on firewood, the Polish authorities naturally forced the populace to use as much coal as possible, since coal wasn't selling very well in foreign markets. However, as a result, many Jewish families suffered from the cold because it was impossible to heat large ovens with just a few pounds of coal that amounted to a great deal more that wood, which was bought from Jewish wood merchants or peasants at the market.

[Photo:] A so-called marshland alley in 1928 reflects the picture of the Vion. This street goes over footbridges and marshes.

        Everything together was made even worse by the social problems in the country, which proved fatal to the economic situation in the town. If a Jewish trader took a chance to do business in the villages with a calf or a few pud of grain, a tax collector would follow him and confiscate his bit of merchandise. In addition, such a poor businessman was unable to pay for a tax or a license.

        The egg exporters and pig hair traders still had something to sell. Apart from that, however, there was apathy and stagnation in the whole business sector, which was becoming increasingly paralyzed and depressed.

[ Page 38 ]

Jews suffer from hardship and hunger

The ban on kosher animal slaughter (thanks to Madame Pristorova), which the Polish parliament legislated throughout the country, broke another branch of Jewish life. In addition to the fact that people longed for a bit of meat, the Jewish butchers and slaughterers were left without a livelihood (once in a while the government would authorize slaughtering a small calf).

        Many Jewish homes in Drohitchin became impoverished. Never mind the absence of meat or clothing, which was considered a luxury, people didn't even have a piece of dry bread to eat. I don't want to say that there was nothing to eat in Poland. In a country where 70 percent of the population was involved in agriculture, it wasn't possible to there not to be food. There was actually enough to eat, but there wasn't money to buy it. As they saying goes: " An axle for a penny, but no penny to buy it with." What happened to the Jews in "democratic" Poland was no accident. It was a well-conceived plan and agreement with the a formulated "social" policy of the Polish "democratic" regime, whose prime minister, General Skladowski, proclaimed, "Hit Jews – No! Boycott – Yes!" The intention of the policy was clear and obvious: to get the Jews out of business, until they would eventually leave the country.

        I don't know why anyone would be nostalgic about the former Polish "democratic" regime. We Jews certainly have nothing to be nostalgic about, but maybe there are a few…..

[Photo:] Funeral of Moshe Naftali Bronner. From right: Kaminitzer (Wisotsky), Leah, Miriam Tsirel's, Dina Kharsal, Shifra and Alter Saratschik, Feitshe and Berl Vichnes, Sarah Kharsal, Moshe Milner, Hershel, et al.

4.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMMUNITY

Head of the Community – Community Rabbi

        In Drohitchin, just as everywhere in the Polesia area, there was no organized community structure, i.e. a "city hall," under the Czarist regime. The entire intellectual, cultural and social life in the shtetl centered in and around the House of Study. The rabbi served in the unofficial position of community head in the shtetl. All community meetings took place at his home, with him serving as chairman. The rabbi had his own "city council," and advisors, who were recruited from the heads and treasurers of the synagogues and burial society, as well as ordinary disciples and people of influence, with whom the community rabbi discussed and decided on relevant internal and external decisions of his community.

        The rabbi was responsible for making sure that his community had a public bath, a ritual bath and a doctor. The rabbi was also responsible for the social well being of his Jews, and had to make sure that the poor Jews received money for Passover matzah flour, medical and other social assistance that they required. The rabbi was also responsible for

Previous Page  | Next Page

  Drogichin, Belarus     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 7 Dec 2001 by LA