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A History of a Decimated Community

In the northeast of Mazovia, once Greater-Poland, the town of Makow-Mazowiecki, county seat of Powiat, is set on the banks of the River Orzysz The town is nestled in the dense forests and deep sands of the regional terrain. It was also referred to as “Makow on the Orzysz”, surrounded by the neighboring towns of Pultusk, Tchechianov, and Pruzhnitz (Pshasnish). The villages of Ruzhan and Krasnow-Sielcz were part of the county as well.

The first known mention of Makow is in a Latin document dated to AD 1065 wherein reference is made to a location on the trade-route and communication center along the Orzysz. Makow served as node for the wood trade and general barter center along the steppe country of the River Narew and the main drainage-way of the Vistula which empties into the Baltic Sea.

In 1421, Duke Januscz Mazowiecki granted Makow the status of a self-governing and independent city. Mazowshe remained an independent principality under the sovereignty of the Polish Crown and King Sigmund August until 1527.

While it is not clear when the Jews originally settled in Makow, we can infer from the pure Polish surnames, such as Arendasz, and Drindasz, as well as other long-standing surnames in the town, that these initial settlers were not from the early forced migrations from Germany to Poland because of the persecutions in the 1400's; that reference is to the age of Casimir the Great when the suffix surnames were “stein”, berg”, “krantz” and so on.

After the unification of Mazovia and Crown Poland, we start to see mentions of Jewish merchants, as well as artisans and craftsmen, especially tailors. A document dated to 1731 notes that the Mayor added an annual tax of 10 zlotys to benefit the city. The tax was levied to (non-Native) “others”, amongst them Jews, who were then granted the right to work at designated and approved trades. A case is cited wherein a Jew, by the name of “Yossel” was granted a license from the City Council to build a brewery on Bridge Street. Jews also received permits to trade in salt and Nafta.

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The Community

The first mention of an organized Jewish community dates to the second half of the 16^th century when that community started to come together. As far as population growth, trade emergence, citizens' rights and protections are concerned we know next to nothing. The first community records as well as documents from the Jewish Burial society (Chevra Kadisha) were destroyed in a great fire that overtook the town in 1787. There is written documentation that the Church leased out acreage to the Jewish Community at an annual cost of 86 zlotys and 18 groschen (Polish currency) irrespective of land use and product yield. Subsequently the Commissar raised the annual rates (effectively taxes) to 128 zlotys and 15 groschen.

Jewish properties were located along the riverbank, subsequently called “The Green Market”. There is a record of a Beis-Midrash that was built there, as well as a Mikvah, and a home for the elderly and infirm. The Jewish cemetery was on the opposite bank of the River. There are no longer any traces of it. The Makow community, along with neighboring communities in Mlawa, Plonsk, Januschitzeh and smaller villages, fell under the regional administrative domain based in Chiechanow until the latter half of the 18^th century. Many of the smaller communities were involved in conflicts centered on the tax base that was assessed for the Jewish minority.

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Makow and the “Four Districts”

At the meeting of the “Four Districts Council” in Jaroslav in 1726, reference is made to Makow along with other tax paying communities. “The Jews of Makow”, it was noted, were supported with payments on the order of 200 zlotys. However, the basis or reason for this support was not mentioned. History tells us that at the time those communities was greatly impoverished because of the excessive taxes imposed or extorted from the Jews, along with other fees. In addition costly bribes were paid for redemptive purposes based on unjust decrees, bloody pogroms, and classic “blood libels” which the Jews of Poland had long paid, especially the communities from Mazovia.

When the Four District Council met in Jaroslav on September 18, 1753, under the watchful eyes of Government officials, the chief representative of the Chiechanover region, Avrahan Ben-Leizer, proposed that the Jews no longer pay taxes (he represented the towns of Makow, Mlawa, Plonsk, and Janushitze). He argued for disengagement from the Chiechanover community (to which they were formerly belonged) and proposed that the Jews make their decisions internally and levy their own taxes.

Makow is mentioned, again in association with the surrounding communities, at the special meeting of the “Financial Commission” that proposed how to pay off the debts of the “Four Districts Council as well as its smaller district committees. After resigning from the Council, by decree of the Sejm in 1764, the debts of the committees amounted to the huge sum of 3 million zlotys for a population of 550,000 Jews in Crown-Poland (inclusive of children). The largest component of the debt was the governmental tax, with the balance covering the clerics and the magnates in fulfillment of loan and interest charges. The Commission met on March 21, 1767; under pressure from the government and debtors a decision was taken to levy a special per-person tax of 3 zlotys for every Jew. The purpose was to free the Jewish population from future debt obligations.

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Persecutions against Jews in the City

The bloody events in Poland in 1648, known by the fearful name of The Cossack Massacres of 1648- 49, and the later attacks by the Haydamaks on Jewish communities did not reach Mazovie. However, our region was not spared the attacks and excesses perpetrated on the Jews by the city population in the 18^th century.^[6]

In a document from 1747 it is written that elected members of the Jewish community submitted a “Protestation” to the mayor and municipal government against the attacks and violence of the Poles against the Jews on the roads. The “Protestation” was signed in Yiddish by the following elected members of the Jewish community: Abramovitch, Lepek, Tchekhanovsky and Notkevitch. According to the documents, the mayor promised the Jews protection against the attacks.^[7]

The Polish Legions defeated the Swedes under the leadership of the great anti -Semite and monster Stefan Tchernitsky (1755-56). The Legionnaires attacked Jews in the cities, robbing and murdering them. They burned Study Houses and synagogues and destroyed many Jewish communities.^[8] The war -storm, with the bloody consequences for Jews did not evade the Jewish community of Makov.

In the book “The History of the Jews in Poland” by Dr. Rafael Mahler, this important writer writes on page 36: “From historic songs in Yiddish one can add to the bloody list more names of those who were tortured and killed at that time as a result of Blood Libels. Among those accounted for one can find the martyr Nakhman ben Nosn from Makov.

According to correspondence from Makov, published in “Hatzfira” in 1900, which is included in this book, our town was known for its renowned great rabbis, Talmudic geniuses. Many of these rabbis have left behind sacred books about Jewish law, biblical interpretation, questions and answers on sacred matters and Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). The well-known rabbi from Warsaw, Reb Arye Leyb Tzuntz, author of many books, was a rabbi in Makov for some time. In his Book “The Face of Arye” it is written:

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“When we taught question under Talmudic study in the holy city of Makov in the year 5587 (1826-27).”

The rabbis taught Torah to boys from near and far. In those years Makov was renown as a city of Torah and learning. The rabbi, Reb Moishe Zvi Zinger wrote in his book “Chidushei Maharm Zvi”, part 2, page 54: “The largest part of my sermon was held in the holy city of Makov on the weekly portion Vayigash (Then he Drew Near) when I was appointed as Rabbi there. Since this was my first sermon there I thought it should be an important interpretation well suited to the importance of a Jewish community which is accustomed to great Jewish minds.

According to the correspondence in “Hatzfira” the first rabbi in town was Reb Avrom Avish of blessed memory. He passed away in the year 5514 (around 1757). Translators' note: the Jewish year 5514 corresponds to 1753-1754.

In the year 1774, the rabbi Reb Dovid Magid, the one who decides rabbinical law, founded the Mishna Society where he himself taught every evening between Mincha and Ma'ariv evening prayers and on the Sabbath before Mincha.

The society was popular, existed until recently and had its own quorum on the first floor of the Old House of Study which burned down in 1930. A few events in town were written in the register of the society, including the great fire which broke out in 1787 in which half the town burned down, as well as the Cholera epidemic which raged in 1866-67 and took the lives of many Jews. “In one day” recounts the chronicler, “there were 17 funerals”. They also tell about Jews who risked their lives to care for the sick and saved many from death. The Burial Society also deserves praise for helping the sick and burying the dead which was dangerous.

The register of the Mishna Society was either lost or burned in the second (or third) fire in 1898.

Reb Dovid Magid was a well-known personality in the history of the Jews of Poland at that time due to his scholarship, communal activity and most of all his fanatic opposition to the Hasidim and their Rebbes who he fought against in his sermons and writings. His name is mentioned

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with the greatest respect by the greats of his time to whom he would turn with questions on matters of Jewish law. In the book “Chemdat Shlomo” by Reb Shloime – Zalman, the rabbi in Poznan, we find a response to a question of Reb Dovid Magid's, about a woman who had an affair with a soldier and her husband wanted to remarry without divorcing his first wife.

In his response the rabbi from Poznan addresses Reb Dovid Magid with the most distinguished and honorific title.

Scholars and historians of the great conflict between Misnagdim and Hasidim refer to Reb Dovid as the classic, fanatic opponent of Hasidism and its Rebbes, as can be found in the book “Zamir Aritizim” which is written in rhyme and other sacred books which have remained in manuscript. Here are a few characteristic quotes from the book “Zamir Aritzim”: “The Rebbes are fat and have double chins”. “They have become rich and famous from other people's money, they redeem souls, which they take from the misfortunate poor”. “The Hasidim are like the Freemasons”. In another place in the book we read: “Hasidim worship portraits and idols”. “The Hasidic courts are altars for pagan god Baal”. “They celebrate with feasts and meals and smoke pipes”. “They are occupied with healing the sick and barren”. “They pursue you for payment”. “They fill their homes with money of distressed poor people”, and so on and so forth.

A second book by Reb Dovid Magid called “Shever Poshim”, a document of the history of the conflict between Misnagdin and Hasidim, was never published but widely distributed in hand written copies. According to what Reb Dovid said in his first book, the Preacher from Kozhitz sent a messenger to the wealthy Jews of Warsaw to stop them from publishing more anti – Hasidic books.^[9]

In the book “Kriya Neamna”, the author writes he has obtained a treatise by Reb Dovid Magid called “Zameret in Ha'Aretz”. In the library at Oxford there is a manuscript by Reb Dovid Magid called: “Sefer Zot Torah Haknaim”.^[10]

Reb Dovid Magid passed away in 1815. All of Polish Jewry eulogized him. The preacher from Bialystok, Reb Moishe Zev gave a great eulogy which was later published in his book “Agudat Azov”, 1824, fifth sermon, page 88. A tent was placed at his grave in the old cemetery

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People came from near and far to visit his grave, especially on the anniversary of his death, to pray and leave notes.

Tens of years after the passing of Magid conflicts erupted in town between Misnagdim and Hasidim, whose numbers were increasing especially at the time when the rabbi was appointed. These were conflicts that on more than one occasion ended in beatings as well as fights between fathers in law and sons in law that often resulted in divorce for the young couple. In the end the Hasidim were victorious and many descendants of Magid were Ger and Amshinov Hasidim.

In a span of twenty years Poland was partitioned three times, after wars and internal turmoil between Prussia, Russia and Austria. The political and legal situation of Jews in Poland did not improve in the first years after partition. Despite this, the Jewish population of our city continued to grow. In 1775 the Jewish community received a permanent lease from the church for 5 lots near Prushnitz Street with permission from the government and the bishop as well as a loan of one thousand zlotys at an annual rate of 5 percent. The loan was signed by: Hersh Notkevitch, Gedaliye Gershonovitch and Akiva Nakhmanovitch.^[11]

According to a story from 1810 the Jewish community numbered 2,007 comprising 72% of the general population of the city.^[12] The community buildings were too old and small for the growing Jewish population. On the leased lots they slowly built a House of Study, a ritual bath with a bath house, and a Talmud Torah, a religious school for poor children. The Jewish community together with its leaders planned to build a large synagogue.

It is difficult to understand how the Jews of our city dared and how they found the means to build such a large, tall building with thick walls which together with the women's section on both sides took up a practically the entire neighbourhood

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of what was later called Shul Gas (Synagogue Street); at a time when Jewish communities in Poland were impoverished by edicts, high taxes, war and inner conflicts.

The synagogues, Houses of Study, Yeshivas, Talmud Torahs as well as other communal institutions which Jews established with their few groschens in Poland and other places in exile, at all times and under all conditions, show the vitality of the Jewish people, with self sacrifice, stubbornness and confidence always making sure the light of the Jews and the Jews themselves would not be extinguished wherever they wandered.

My grandfather, Hershk Katz, who in his old age was the manager of the synagogue, told me, among other things, that Jewish bricklayers volunteered to lay the bricks of these thick walls. Jewish builders and carpenters worked for a long time without pay, laying the many thick boards and beams of the complicated roof in a Byzantium style, which was covered the first time with shingles and then zinc metal.

The artistic oil paintings on the walls and ceiling and the ornaments on the high pillars on the four sides of the bimah which held up the ceiling, were painted by a local artist, a pious very talented Jew. A large bronze candelabra hung from the ceiling. Experts were amazed by the candelabra which was given the synagogue as a gift by Yitzkhak and Khane Goldshtyen from Danzig in 1837. The candelabra hung between the bimah and the Holy Ark, under a drawing on the ceiling of a sky with light bluish clouds on the horizon and a sun, which shone by day and by night. When the candelabra burned, a half moon shone and stars sparkled. The large Holy Ark which could be reached from both sides of the lectern by wide steps, was decorated on both sides with wood carvings of musical instruments painted gold on a white background. The instruments looked like they were made of metal and always sparkled.

Above the Holy Ark were the traditional two lions in their natural colour holding the ten commandments. Above the tablets was a golden crown and up high, an inscription: “Keter Torah” (Crown of the Torah).

The Holy Ark was covered with a curtain made of satin, velvet and plush, in colours to suit the Sabbath and High Holidays, purple, white and blue, with flowers and trees stitched with gold thread, as well as deer, lions and passages from the Torah, by delicate, gentle fingers of modest young brides and God-fearing mothers,

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A celebration in the large synagogue marking the opening of the Jerusalem University, April, 1925

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who wove their dreams and hopes, sorrows and joy, anxieties and longing into the curtain.

There were about two dozen Torah scrolls in the Holy Ark, old and new, big and small, with artistic works of the Tree of Life made of wood and ivory, adorned with coats of satin and silk. Silver pointers hung on some of the Torah scrolls to guide the readers, and fringes with engraved names of childless couples, who with their hard-earned savings sponsored the writing of a Torah, to ensure the memory of their names after they die. When the Torah scrolls were ceremoniously brought to the synagogue, under a wedding canopy with music and dancing and with the participation of the entire Jewish community and guests from other towns, the childless husband and wife felt the joy of parents leading their child to the wedding canopy.

On both sides of the large anteroom, under and over the first, second and third stories, were the so- called “little prayer houses”. This is where the Psalm Society and Eyn Yakov prayed as well as artisans according to their professions. Each society had a Rebbe who would teach, especially on Saturday afternoons.

The extraordinary, large, beautiful synagogue, one of the few in Poland, was pilfered by the Nazis, may their names be wiped out. They desecrated the Torah scrolls and destroyed it down to the foundation together with the Jewish community. May God avenge their blood.

During the years 1806-1809 Napoleon's army conquered the part of Poland from Prussia to Austria and created under its protectorate the Duchy of Poland with Warsaw as its capitol. The Napoleonic constitution proclaimed religious freedom and equal rights for all citizens of Poland, which, concerning the Jews, was never realized. Edicts against the Jews continued. They were forbidden to buy land from the nobility, there were limitations in business, expulsion of the Jewish artisans and lease holders from villages and numerous cities. Other cities forced Jews into ghettos. In accordance with the demands of the Poles in the city, there was a designated area where Jews had to live in Makov. (A law dated January 29^th 1813).^[13]

In the chronicle from a church in town from 1827 it is written that in the years 1806-07 the French military garrison installed

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a military bakery in the church, with three baking ovens, taking apart fences, stalls, warehouses and cells for wood to bake bread for the military, with requisitioned grain and flour. There was great hunger and suffering in town. The soldiers emptied and impoverished the town. It took years to restore the situation.^[14]

After the defeat of Napoleon's army outside Moscow, practically the entire Duchy of Poland fell under the rule of the Russia. The constitution of October 27^th 1815 which the Russian Tsar gave Poland, in fact legalized the Jew's lack of rights. Therefore, it is understandable, that when Poles rebelled against Russia, the Jews participated, hoping they would receive the same rights as all other citizens of Poland.^[15]

In the rebellion of 1863 the were battles in forests and villages around our city. In a confrontation with 156 Cossacks near the village of Karniova, a few rebels from our town fell, among them, a Jew, Ignacy Goldshteyn. He died from his wounds in captivity. The Russian gendarmes and the Cossacks would openly beat up unarmed citizens, for the smallest suspicion that they were helping the rebellion. Many Jews in town and in the surrounding villages were beaten.

This chronicle from a Polish source is characteristic: “The head of a division of rebels in our region that supplied provisions and eliminated spies was a young Jewish woman Carolina Mikhelson, born in Kalisz”.

“On a white horse” the source continues to recount, “armed from head to foot, leading the patriots, she raced through fields and forests, from town to town, from village to village, calling on peopled to rebel, speaking and agitating, collecting money, weapons, horses and recruiting.” The forest merchant, Reb Feyvl Blum, subsidized the rebels with money and weapons. One of the Blums fought in the ranks of the rebels in the Plotzk region. After the rebellion was repressed, he escaped to France. The former Prime Minister of France, Leon Blum stems from this family”.^[16]

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Still standing today in town is a three storied large house, once the largest in the city, which belonged to the Blum family. Kahane the watch maker and a relative of the Blums lived there and managed the property.

He was appointed rabbi in 1855. Because of his intelligence, kindness and love of the masses he was loved in town, even by non-Jews. He was a renowned scholar and a jurist. In the book “Mincha Chadasha” he is referred to with title: “The light of Torah and vision, the famous, righteous scholar Efraim Fishl from Lithuania, Av Bet Din (Father of the Jewish Court) in Makow.^[17] At his initiative, and mainly with his own money, the new House of Study was built in 1857-58 next to the synagogue. The rabbi lived upstairs and would teach young men every day. He was active in organizing the societies of the Jewish community. For 25 years Reb Efraim – Fishl of blessed memory served as head rabbi of Makov and was a devoted leader of the community.

Reb Efraim – Fishl, referred to with love and respect as Reb Fishele, passed away on the 20^th of Shevat, 1881. A tent was erected over his grave. On the anniversary of his death, candles were lit in the Houses of Study and people would study Mishna to uplift their souls and go to his grave and recite psalms. His wife Rivka of blessed memory also passed away that same year. Righteous women would refer to her as: Rivkele the Rebbetzin or Rivkele the Righteous.

On a list of people from our town who donated money to help Jews who suffered in pogroms in southern Russia, published in “Hatzfira” in June 1881 you can find the names of Reb Efraim – Fishl and his wife, a widow by that time. They donated 50 kopeks.

The correspondence from Makow was signed by their grandson, later a contributor to “Hatzfira”, knowledgeable in many languages and well educated, Eliezer – Dovid Finkel son of Rabbi Mordkhai, may his light shine upon us, who organized this campaign and contributed 2 rubles. Rabbi Mordkhai Nayman of blessed memory, Efraim Fishele's daughter Miriam's son in law, was the Righteous Teacher and jurist in town. He was called: Reb Motele the Judge. He lived above the new House of Study, in his grandfather's apartment.

Reb Motele passed away on the 25^th of Kislev, 1914 and was buried

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beside Reb Efraim – Fishl of blessed memory. Reb Motele's son, named after his grandfather Reb Efraim – Fishl, was the rabbi in the Makow synagogue in New York.

In the second half of the 19^th century there was a small group of wealthy Jews who were forest and wheat dealers, leasers of water and wind mills. Reb Yitzkhak – Hersh Segal was a landowner, owner of a water mill in the village Podesh, had a large one-story house in the marketplace where he lived with his wife Dobeh who was called Dobele, and children, sons and daughters. The girls were well educated for those times. They were able to read and write Yiddish, Polish and Russian. Their home was religious, but not fanatic. Yitzkhak – Hersh Segal was a Misnagid, prayed at the new House of Study where they tolerated the two Jews in short jackets, Shatzky, the Russian teacher from the public school for Jewish children and Kahane the watchmaker who would come there to pray every Sabbath.

Wealthy Jews looked for well educated sons-in-law promising them dowries, a few years of room and board and later help with finding a profession to earn a living. This was not easy. Besides being wealthy, Reb Yitzkhak – Hersh Segal claimed good pedigree. He was a descendent of Reb Dovid Magid and was looking for a match for his eldest daughter Rivkele (Rebecca). Nokhem Sokolov's parents who lived in Plotzk were distant relatives of the Segals. Nokhem – Tuvye was a student of the well-known rabbi from Kutne, Reb Yisroel Yehoshua Trunk, known as Reb Yehoshuale Kutner. Already at a young age Nokhem was considered to be a genius. Reb Yitzkhak – Hersh Segal sent his friend, Reb Rafael Hirsh of blessed memory, a scholar, advisor and arbitrator in town, to Nokhem's parents to discuss a match as well as examine Nokhem who was then 14 years old. Reb Rafael Hirsh gave his high approval of the 14-year-old boy, Nokhem – Tuvye, and advised to proceed with the match. Reb Hersh Segal together with his wife Dobele, left immediately for Plotzk for further negotiations with Nokhem's parents about the dowry, room and board and other matters which both sides at that time discussed before closing the deal. With good fortune the prenuptials were drawn up and in 1876. When Nokhem was 17 there was a great wedding celebration in town. The young couple, Rivkele and Nokem lived on the first floor of his in – law's house.

Freed from the burden of having to earn a living, Nokhem Sokolov began to study history, geography, literature, languages and wrote. His mother in law

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would tell her neighbours: “My son in law sits upstairs all day and night and studies”. No one in the house disturbed his studying or writing. His wife Rivkele and his father - in- law recognized his talents and were pleased with his learning, even secular subjects. Nokhem found a few Jews in town to befriend. His closest friend was Reb Avrom – Yosef Rozental, a grandson of Reb Dovid Magid, was an exceptional man with many great qualities: Torah, intellect, good habits and a deep analytical mind. Even though he was much older than Nokhem a strong friendship developed. They understood one another. In an article written after Reb Avrom – Yosef Rozental died, published in “Hatzfira” and later in book form, Nokhem Sokolov wrote: “Like grapes in the desert, I found this this distinguished man, this outstanding knowledgeable man, in the city where I lived for a few years. I was attached to him with heart and soul. It was hard for me part from him when I left that town”.

Another friend from Makow about whom N.Sokolov published grieving words of comfort after his passing was the rabbi Reb Mordkhai Finkel of blessed memory. He was a great Talmudic scholar and an enlightened Jew, charitable and the son of Reb Efraim Fishele of blessed memory.

Nokhem tried to be a business man. Three years after their wedding he travelled to Germany on business. He was no businessman, but his first trip abroad opened the path to his later journeys and important national missions as a leader to various countries and continents. The five years that N. Sokolov lived with his in – laws were, according to him, the best years of his life: “they were good healthy ears of corn for me. I acquired many books and thoroughly learned 8 languages, old and new, besides natural science and history which were my chosen subjects of study. In 1880 Nokhem Sokolov became the chief editor of the daily newspaper “Hatzfira”. He quickly became popular and loved by Hebrew readers, especially Yeshiva boys, whose mentality he knew well. With his refined Hebrew which he drew from many sources, old and new, he knew how to talk to the hearts and minds of his Jews. His work as editor of “Hatzfira” led Sokolov down the path of being a writer, diplomat, and world-renowned leader.

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For 48 years Rivka -Rebecca accompanied her important husband on his successful yet difficult life journey. When she died in 1924 in London, Nokhem Sokolov wrote to his friend Dr. Klatzkin: “Since I've been alive I have not felt such profound sadness which torments body and soul as I felt on that bitter day when the wife of my youth was taken from me”.

Prof. Chaim Weizmann of blessed memory said in his eulogy: “She was the symbol of a Jewish woman, a devoted wife of an intellectual who understood how to value her husband and help him in his life's work, in times of suffering and times of joy”. In his book about Spinoza which was published later, Nokhem Sokolov wrote the following dedication: “In memory of the soul of the wife of my youth and my lifelong friend”.^[18]

Nokhem Sokolov's death in London in 1936 saddened Jews around the world as well as leading personalities who knew and respected him. The newly established State of Israel brought the remains of the great Nokhem Sokolov and laid him down for eternal rest on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.

The wave of pogroms and slaughter of Jews in southern Russia in 1881 reached Warsaw and threw the Jews of Poland into a state of fear. In a letter published in “Hatzfira” in January 1881 we read: “We have been informed of the following from the city of Makov: After hearing about the excesses in Warsaw, the Jews were afraid that the masses there would also carry out a pogrom. They turned to the honest Christians, enlightened men, to talk to the ignorant, and tell them not to allow secret instigations which would bring tragedy to our city. To our delight, the commander of the fire fighter's society, which had been established a year before, gave a command that all fire fighters, dressed in uniform, with their apprentices and workers, should gather in the theatre. When everyone was gathered, the educated Christian, Dr. Krakh, gave a speech and explained that “the task of the firefighters is not only to fight fires which can leave a town in ashes but also to fight every destructive instrument that could bring tragedy to all”.

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With harsh words he explained that the mob in Warsaw committed a sin against God in what they did against the Jews. He told them to assess all the virtues and good traits of the People of Israel. “It is a lie” he said, “what they try to tell you, that every Jew sleeps on a sack of money. They often call me to care for their sick and I see so much poverty and destitution in their homes, it could make your hair stand up. Yet in my life I have never seen such strong love from a hardworking toiling father toward his wife and child as in these poor dwellings”.

“The doctor predicated for two hours and one felt his words were achieving their goal. Some of the Christians gathered were moved to tears. After he finished speaking there was applause and our distinguished friend, the lawyer Yezhersky, the teacher Shatzky and a few other Jews went up on the stage and thanked the doctor in the name of the entire Jewish community”.

The correspondence ends with the following:

“It is just and worthy that his name be fondly remembered in this newspaper”.

Thanks to this the Jews in town only suffered from fear and collected money for victims of pogroms in other cities. In the edition of “Hatzfira” from June 12^th 1881 a list of those who donated was published. The campaign was organized by Eliezer Finkel and his friend Nosn Avigdor Rozenberg. In total they collected 29 rubles.

The rabbi Reb Yehuda – Leyb Groybard of blessed memory, a young man of 27 years, captured the town “which was accustomed to great rabbis”, with his first sermon, and quickly gained the praise of scholars and simple folk with his knowledge and sharpness. Due to the initiative of Reb Yehuda - Leyb Groybard, a Yeshiva was established in town. The famous Makov Yeshiva under the direction of Reb Notele Khilinovitch [Chilinovitch] from Lomza who was also the head of the Yeshiva. More than 300 students studied in the three classes of the Yeshiva, the majority from out of town. The Yeshiva boys ate a meal every day with another family. Tuesdays and Fridays were market days in town. Most of the business was run by women who were too busy on those days to prepare meals even for their own children. The Yeshiva boys were often hungry on those two days,

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and had to subsist on black bread and water. However, they accepted it as “This was the way of the Torah: You should eat bread and salt, drink a lot of water and sleep on the ground” etc… This is what Jews learned every summer on the Sabbath in Ethics of our Fathers. It was therefore self – explanatory.

Cover page of a book by Rabbi Yehuda – Leyb Groybard

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The first book “Chavalim B' Neimim” from Rabbi Yehuda – Leyb Groybard's large collection in 5 volumes, was published while he was chief rabbi of Makow.

In 1900 Rabbi Yehuda – Leyb Groybard left our town and was given the great honour of being Rabbi and chief judge of the Jewish court in Stashov, in the Kielce region. From then on, he was known as the “Stashov Rabbi”.

Elderly Jews from Makow spoke a lot about the rabbi's accomplishments in the 17 years in was in town and complained to members of the Jewish communal council for allowing such a great rabbi to leave for, according to what they said, a few extra rubles a month.

He passed away in Toronto, Canada on October 6^th 1937.

In accordance to his last book “Yevia Omer”, written in Yiddish and published in 1936, which dealt with timely topics and with filled with deep thoughts and quotes from Greek philosophers, this can be said about Rabbi Yehuda – Leyb Groybard of blessed memory: “As scholars age, their wisdom increases”.

Honour his memory!^[19]

In “Hatzfira” from August 9^th 1898 we read:

“A very sad announcement arrived to us from Makow, in the Lomza region from Rabbi Mordkhai Finkel.

This week, on Monday, God's hand brought tragedy to our city which burned from a blaze. The fire broke out in three places and the same moment and a storm carried the flames which were ablaze everywhere and could not be extinguished. Sadly, this occurred on a Christian holiday when the entire Christina population went the villages to celebrate, including the firefighters. Only the Jewish inhabitants were in town. The fire became so big, within minutes, streets were transformed into rivers of fire. Our brothers were helpless and people were stunned. They did not save their possessions and barely saved their lives.

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In addition to this they were lacking water. They could not do a thing until firefighters arrived from two nearby villages and slowly began to put out the fire.

Meanwhile a few hundred homes were lost and three thousand families were left bare naked, without bread or a roof.

The firefighters worked all night until morning, extinguishing embers which are still smoking. The appearance of burnt houses, the ruins of collapsed buildings leave a terrible impression when we remember just a few days ago people were sitting comfortably, some wealthy, and overnight they became impoverished, poor people who have to beg for alms from other good people. This old town nourished 300 Yeshiva boys, learning Torah. The benevolent townsfolk are now asking for mercy and pity at this time of trouble and shortages. The catastrophe is enormous. Who can bear it?! A committee was founded to support the victims of the fire. The writer of these lines was also chosen to sit on this committee, to collect donations that were sent for our unfortunate brothers at a time when the rabbi was not in town. The aid is extremely necessary and we must hurry to collect it now as summer is passing and winter is around the corner. We must protect the unfortunate victims of the fire from frost and cold”.

It must be said that the houses were built from wood and covered with shingled roofs, one on top of the other. The streets were narrow. Even the smallest fire endangered the whole city.

The year of the fire became a reference date in people's lives. My mother would day to me: “You were born one year before the fire and your sister Shaindl, one year after the fire”. Weddings and large and small events in the family were referenced by how many years before or after the fire they took place.

After the fire a law was passed saying that every house built must have a brick wall on the right side of the building, the so-called fire-wall.

Slowly, the Jews began to rebuild the burnt houses. Some built nicer and larger homes than before. Some with their own strength and means and some with the help of the committee, led by our energetic rabbi, Rabbi Yehuda – Lyeb Groybard of blessed memory,

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and the well -known scholar and philanthropist Reb Mordkhai Finkel of blessed memory. Life in town normalized to the extent that in June 1903, 5 years after the fire, a list was published in “Hatzfira” of 100 families in town who donated lesser and greater sums of money for the victims of the pogrom in Kishinev, one of the bloodiest pogroms not only in Russia, but in the whole world. 76 rubles and 80 kopeks were collected. There were donations of 3 and 2 rubles, and 16 who gave a ruble each. This was a sign that once again there were wealthy Jews in town.

There were no Jewish clerks in the government nor city hall. The town never had large industry. There was a sugar factory owned by a Polish magnate, 9 kilometres from town that operated in the winter months. Jews did not receive work there except one Jewish family, a father and son who specialized in copper. There were two small leather factories built by the Jews Mates Raytchik (Mates the tanner) and Zalmen Orlik (Zalmen the tanner). By the end of the 19^th century they were doing handiwork with hard leather and cowhide. Later, they were partially mechanized and hired 80 workers, mainly Poles. There were three buckwheat hand mills, three small undertakings to press oil, which only operated in the winter when the farmers came with their kernels to be pressed into oil. There were two spinning wheels to make ritual fringes (Tsitsis) a factory for soda water and kvass, two rope makers and 2 soap boilers.

The artisans were mainly tailors, more than 50 families were tailors for men and women, manufacturing cheap, poor quality clothes for the village and selling their goods on market days and at fairs in our town and neighbouring cities. The tailors bought their fabric from larger merchants in town who would bring them from Lodz and Warsaw. Later, the wealthier tailors travelled on their own to buy fabric. All the tailors in town were Jews. Some tailors sold old used clothes brought from Germany. They repaired them and sold them to farmers. We would see them wearing dress coats and checkered pants, or three- quarter length coats with long slits, wide lapels with many pockets, big and small and other strange pieces of clothing which were cheap and affordable for poor farmers.

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There were approximately 30 shoemaker families who made boots for farmers. Women's shoes were made by Polish shoemakers and sold on market days and fairs. There were a few shoemaker workshops that only made shoes to order. There were hat makers and furriers who also sold pelts in the winter. The hat makers who were also furriers travelled once a year to Loyvitch to the fair for furs and sometimes bought ready made pelts. They would prepare and sew everything on time for the winter season. Sales took place in the markets on fair days.

There were also Jewish carpenters, tinsmiths, blacksmiths who would make wagons, wheel makers, lathe operators, one locksmith, bricklayers, painters, bakers, butchers, cake and candy makers, saddle makers, a watchmaker and goldsmiths, barbers and shavers, one medic, one dentist, later two dentists, sometimes a Jewish doctor, a midwife and two large mangles for laundry.

In those years people worked in the workshops from early in the morning until late at night. The apprentices, mainly unmarried boys (after their wedding each apprentice would go out on his own and become a master), would eat at his boss's, usually at the machine or work table. Wages were small, the master himself was poor. Due to a lot of competition at the market they could not offer better working conditions (See Peretz: “Once There Was a King”). However, you heard singing, cantorial pieces and later folk songs as you passed the house of a tailor or shoemaker. They worked where they lived.

There were never any vocational schools in town. When a poor Jew wanted his son to become an artisan, he had to send him, at age 13-14 to be apprenticed. This lasted one year, without pay. The apprentice had to sweep the house, bring water, wood, light the oven, hold the child until the woman of the house finished cooking and simply obey. Later, he would be allowed to sew a button on a pair of pants or hammer in a peg. After a few years of suffering he would learn the trade, receive a bit of food and later a bit of money as well. Trades were passed down from fathers to their children. There were artisans who permitted their sons to study and found good matches for them. Some became merchants while other even became ordained rabbis.

There were all kinds of merchants in town. Until the anti – Jewish boycott in 1905, they were all Jewish. There were small merchants who did not have their own shops but sold their goods: fabric, haberdashery, tablecloths and seat covers

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on market days at fairs. Tuesday and Friday were market days and every sixth Wednesday there was a fair (later every Wednesday after the first of the month). After the harvest and before Christian holidays market days and fairs were bigger. There was not enough place in the four cornered market for all the peasant's wagons, because most of the market place was taken up by local merchants and artisans as well as those who came from surrounding towns. Many merchants and tailors set up stalls in advance, covered and hid the walls with thick canvas and laid out their wares to sell.

The streets around the market were filled with peasant's wagons who arrived late and could not find place for their horses and wagons in the marketplace. Police or officials from city hall kept order by placing the wagons and trying to prevent fights that would break out among merchants and artisans arriving from out of town to set up or sell their goods.

Jewish grain dealers walked among the peasant's wagons where there were open bags of rye, wheat, barley, oats and other grains, but mostly rye. They examined the grains, bargained with the farmer, and if he bought something, paid half the money and asked them to bring the gain in the evening to the granary. There they weighed it, did a calculation and paid. There were cases when unknown farmers took money from one and sold the grain to another and ran away. Smaller grain merchants who did not have their own granaries would buy and immediately sell the goods to larger merchants or the owner of the large steam mill, Reb Bezalel Vilenberg, take the money and return to the marketplace. There were Jews who did not even have enough money to buy a small bag of grain. Before the fair they received money from bigger merchants to buy for them.

Beggars and cripples came to the fairs. They sat on sidewalks and sang monotonous church songs accompanied by old hoarse accordions. When people gave them alms they whispered something to them and the beggars mumbled a prayer, crossed themselves and continued to sing and play.

Organ grinders also came to the fairs, bizarre, sun tanned, mainly Jews. They churned out old Russian melodies from the organs which stood on one foot. A parrot would sit on top in a bird cage. They were able to pull out from a box, small white envelopes with cheap rings, earrings, brooches and the like.

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Young peasant girls paid to hear the songs and were excited when the parrot or a mouse withdrew something from the box.

All types of thieves came to the fairs as well. Pickpockets, grain thieves and regular swindlers who fooled naïve peasants and Jews too.

If a market day or fair fell on a Jewish holiday it would not take place. The peasants knew not to come to town when a Jewish holiday fell on a Tuesday or Friday. If a Jewish holiday fell on a Wednesday that was supposed have a fair, it was postponed for a week. The municipal drummer, with a large drum, stood at the corners of the marketplace and on the streets on the two market days before the fair, and Sunday, when the peasants came out of church, banged the drum loudly and shouted out loudly until a lot of people gathered. Then, in a loud voice he would shout that the fair was postponed due to a Jewish holiday.

There were cases when peasants from far away did not know and came with wagons of grain or wood to the market or the fair on a day that was a Jewish holiday. Such a peasant would be confused when he arrived at the market to finds all the shops, except for the non -kosher butcher shops and government alcohol shops locked. It was quiet at the marketplace, you did not see a living soul. He did not understand what was going on. “Is today Tuesday or Wednesday?” he would ask surprised. “What happened to the market and the fair?” Poles and Jews would have fun with the confused peasant. He would either have to sell his products for cheap to the Poles or take them home with him.

There are two episodes from those times I cannot forget. They should be written down for future generations in order to remember the spiritual fortitude of the pious Jews which was not seen among other people.

Short Fridays occur in Poland before the Christian New Year. There were large markets as big as fairs in town of Fridays. On these short days it is light at 8 o'clock in the morning. By the time the peasants arrive at the marketplace and go to the tavern or tea house to have something to eat or drink it is already noon. The stalls fill with peasant men and women buying whatever they need. The tables of the tailors and shoemakers are surrounded by customers from the villages. It is impossible to answer everyone and sell at the same time. And then, at 3 o'clock, three people appear in the marketplace,

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the rabbinic judge with two other Jews, dressed for the Sabbath and telling Jews to close their shops, pack up their goods and prepare for the Sabbath. The shopkeepers close their doors quickly and send away their village customers who were buying necessities. The market pilots throw the goods into baskets sending them home quickly on small sleighs. Apprentice tailors grab parcels of pants and short jackets on their backs and run home quickly over the trampled snow. After them, the stall owners; the shoemakers left their customers, took the racks and boots which hung on them, and ran home.

We had a shop for women's fabric and kerchiefs. My mother Perl, may God avenge her blood, was a widow with 5 small children. My father, Yekhiel – Alter of blessed memory left this world at the age of 36. I was the eldest child. I remember on Friday evening when there were few customers remaining in the shop I closed one door and wanted to sell the goods quickly before closing the store. Mother went into the house to prepare the candles for the Sabbath. She soon came to me and said: “For God's sake Yakov -Moishe, what are you doing? Send everyone away and close the shop. I must make the blessing and light the Sabbath candles”. Whether I wanted to or not, this is what I had to do. The 10 rubles that I and other merchants could have earned had we worked until night could have been useful, not only for our livelihood but also to be able to pay off the promissory note right after the Sabbath and not have to go to the bank asking them to wait another day without protest. But when it is five minutes before candle lighting the shops must close and the marketplace must be emptied of its merchants. Jews celebrate the Sabbath at all cost.

Wednesday, the eve of Yom Kippur, there was a fair in town. Merchants and artisans from further places did not come this time. They would not make it home on time for the meal before the fast. However, merchants came from towns that were less than three quarters of an hour away, set up their stalls, hung up their wares, clothes and boots. The season: end of summer, after reaping and threshing. The farmers are selling new grain, their wives, young chickens, eggs, cheese and butter. They walk around examining, trying things on and bargaining for a better price. It is noisy in the marketplace. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, in the midst of this noise, three unfamiliar merchants began to hurriedly pack their goods, clothes and boots into their wagons. Peasants who were haggling earlier looking for cheaper prices

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now wanted to buy the coats or boots at the previous price. They had already tried things on earlier, they were just hoping to bring down the price. The peasants did not consider the fact that the Jews would suddenly pack up their stuff and leave. How could the Jews not leave in a hurry, its was Erev Yom Kippur. One had to arrive at evening prayers on time. The peasants who watched the Jews pack their wares and leave in such a hurry in the middle of the day were frightened and could not imagine what was happening. They too grabbed their horses and wagons and ran home.

This is how our fathers and grandfathers conducted themselves, those who the Nazis, may their memories be blotted out, exterminated so brutally in order to build “The Thousand Year Reich” with their blood for the “Higher Aryan Race”.

The relationship between Jews and Christians in our region was peaceful and friendly from the time the peasants were liberated in Poland until the rise of the Nazis. Jews went from village to village buying various good from the peasants. Others carried packs of fabric and haberdashery from village to village selling and sometimes buying. Some Jews lived in the larger villages around Makow, in all, just a few families. They had shops there. Others were tenant farmers who bought milk from the nobility and peasants and brought it to town to sell and make cheese and butter. It should be mentioned that pious Jews, due to Jewish dietary laws, did not buy milk butter or cheese from non- Jews, however they did buy from the Jewish tenant farmers who were present at the milking of the cows and made sure it was kosher. Because of this, the milk- Jew was no less useful to the nobleman and peasant than the city Jew. There was in town a special ritual slaughterer for the villages who during the week would ride or walk from village to village where Jews lived and slaughter chickens and the occasional cow for the Sabbath and holidays. On Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the village Jews would come with their families to town. The larger villages which were not far from each other organized their own quorums for prayer and brought a Torah reader from the city for Rosh Hashana who brought home all kinds of good things for his wife and children. In order to come to pray on the Sabbath and walk home, the Jews made a wired border to indicate an area where things can be carried on the Sabbath. This was often made under the supervision of the cantor. Erev Yom Kippur and after the fast they ate at the home of a village Jew where they prayed and remained until after the holiday.

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There were a few families called “Kremers” (shopkeepers), brothers or fathers and sons who went to nearby villages with horse and wagon selling fabric, kerchiefs, underwear and other items. They would leave home on Sunday and return Thursday evening, summer and winter. The slept and ate at peasant homes. The peasant women knew what they could and could not eat; they knew to ask in the morning if they already prayed. They were all pious Jews and often prayed wrapped in prayer shawls and phylacteries in the peasant's home or barn. When these peasants came to town they would stay in the homes of these “Kremers”. Until recently it was rare that Jews in the neighbouring villages would be insulted or treated poorly. There was one sad incident from that time. A Jew who travelled from village to village whose name was Robek, went to a village to do business and did not return. The Russian police and gendarmes searched and investigated but until today we do not know where he disappeared. He left orphans and a young wife, an Agunah who could not remarry as she had no proof of death.

The city was situated 35 kilometres from a train station and in those days, there were few paved roads. The means of transport was a carriage drawn by 2 horses. This is how people travelled to far away cities like Plotzk, and later to Lomza and Warsaw. They would travel with horse and wagon to nearby towns and later with droshkies (horse drawn carriages). All the teamsters were Jews and when they hired Polish coachmen, they spoke Yiddish like the Jews. The pioneers of the transport system from Makow to Warsaw were the Khunovitchs. Khone Khunovitch and later his sons, good honest Jews. Later on, another family joined the line; Notke Kashtan, a typical teamster, a character like Sholem Aleichem's Tevye, always throwing around biblical quotes, not fully understanding them. Two of Khone Khunovitch's grandsons are rabbi today in America. Another teamster, Avrom Vonskolaser, who had a droshky to rent, was apparently a close relative (an uncle) of the owners of the famous film company “Warner Brothers”. They came from Pultusk. They were the children of Avrom Vonskolaser's brother who lived in Pultusk.

To travel to Warsaw which was 85 kilometres away, they would ride in stage coaches for

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16 to 18 hours stopping in every city to allow the horses to graze. In the winter, after the snow fell they would travel in coaches however on sleighs. Besides passengers, these coaches would also transport calves, chicken cages, raw hides and other materials. Magnificent wagons, sometimes pulled by 3 or 4 horses would transport cargo such as: finished leather, flour from the water mills etc.… and they would return from Warsaw with merchandise which Jewish merchants would sell. Later, the teamster would drive buses, pulled by 4 horses to Warsaw. The stage coaches, magnificent wagons and buses were parked in a large yard at 17 Bonifrat Street. There were also wagons from other towns. Chickens and eggs were sold from this same yard by women who came from the province. It was always noisy there early in the morning. The small synagogue was packed with Jews who came to Warsaw to shop but would pray first thing in the morning. This yard also did not lack thieves, the famous Warsaw “pickpockets” who would steal anything they possibly could.

“Shkoles” is a Slavic word used in Polish Yiddish for government schools where they taught the language of the land and secular subjects. Religious Jews feared the “Shkoles” and gymnasia (high schools) as students emerged from there as Maskilim (enlightened Jews), who ran away from Judaism and piety, became heretics, if not worse, which was occurring among Jewish youth in Western Europe and central and southern Russia. When Bialik published his poem “On the Threshold of the House of Study” in 1893, pouring out his heart about the devasted Houses of Study, the ark without Torah, boys still sweetly studied in our town at Houses of Study and small Hasidic synagogues.

After the last failed Polish uprising, two Russian elementary schools opened in our city, one for Christian children and the other for Jewish children. It had the same poor program and was closed on Saturdays.

The schools had 4 classes: a preparatory class and first, second and third. The pedagogic level of the schools was low. The school only had two rooms, two classes in each room and only one teacher. The children in the third class had to learn with the lower classes. There was a Jewish teacher who worked in the Jewish school, who,

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in the early years had to go from house to house asking people to send their children to this school. Religious Jews, as mentioned earlier, were afraid to send their children to the “Shkole”, in fear they would be “ruined”. Small groups of boys and girls attended the school, only from certain families, they were mainly children who did not want to go to Heder (religious school), or ordinary children who had learning difficulties. It was not suitable for an artisan to send them away. The founders of libraries and leaders of organizations in our city would emerge from this school.

All Jewish children, poor and rich, learned in “Heder” beginning at the age of four. Those who could not pay tuition sent their children to the Talmud Torah. There were also teachers of young children who taught them Hebrew and how to pray: Khumash (Pentateuch) and Rashi and Gemara (commentary on the Talmud) as well as translations and explanations. The Torah portion of the week was taught in Heder every Friday. They also studied Prophets and Writings. It was rare if a Jew could not correctly read or quote a passage from the Bible or Talmud. From Heder they went on to Yeshiva, the Beys Medresh (House of Study) or learned a trade after becoming a Bar Mitzvah. The Beys Medresh was filled with people studying. One had to arrive early in order to

A class from the Folk – Shul in Makow, 1924

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find a place to sit. If not, you had to stand at a lectern and study. We cannot not say that every young man studied Torah for the sake of learning. There were those who knew, if they studied hard they would have a better chance at finding a bride with a rich father in law, a good dowry and many years of room and board. Every Jew strove to find a Talmudic scholar to marry his daughter. In later years, when scholarship lost its former prestige, young girls who were engaged, even educated ones, would brag to their friend: “My bridegroom is an intellectual and a Talmudic scholar”.

In our town girls did not go to “Heder”. Special Rebbetzins, (Rabbi's wives) would teach the girls to read prayers in Hebrew and read the bible in Yiddish translation. A girl, who was able to pray and write a Yiddish letter with a Russian address was considered in those years to be well educated. Every Jew in town knew how to pray, and the majority could write a Yiddish letter. Not everyone could write the Russian address. Jews were also able to calculate, at least addition, subtraction and multiplication. Hasidic and pious Jews, are depicted as “obscurantists” who are all swindlers, hypocrites and evil, by some Maskilic (enlightened) writers, or ordinary fools and idiots like the Jews in Mendele's “Travels of Benjamin the Third”. In any event, not in our town of Makow. And our rabbis were certainly not the ones like in Peretz's “Shtreiml”. Under the Shtreimls (fur hats) of Makow's rabbis were clever heads with sharp minds, proficient in worldly matters. The last two rabbis in town, Rabbi Mordkhai – Dov Eydelberg and Rabbi Yitzkhak Zvi Adelberg, may God avenge their deaths, were great Talmudic scholars with some secular education. They knew languages and often lectured students and non – Jews in correct Polish.

Of course, there were pious Jews, zealots, who fought hard for piety and a religious way of life according to the Code of Jewish Law. This was not because of self – interest, influence or honour, but because of their firm belief that this was the only way Jews could live. Where could you find those naïve, honest, Kosher Jews with their honest, modest daughters and sons?

The Russo – Japanese war of 1904-1905, even though it was thousands of kilometres away, brought prosperity to our town. The peasants in the village sold a lot of their produce. Shoemakers, tailors and other artisans had a lot of work. The two leather factories increased their production and hired 80 workers, Jews and Poles. However, the situation of workers and apprentices did not improve. Working 12-14 hours a day, for example, a leather worker barely earned a living.

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The worker was subject to the mercy of his employer, his boss. The Russian government did not permit workers to organize or strike. The Revolutionary movement at that time in Russia and worker's strikes had reached our town. On one hand, the Polish bourgeois, wearing four cornered national caps, prepared for a resistance against Russia. On the other hand, the workers were preparing to strike in order to improve their economic situation. The first to go on strike were the leather workers, led by the worker Avrom Baumgarten. Soon after the shoemakers and tailors went on strike, organized by Aron Gutman, whose nickname was “Head”, Yakov Gerlitz, Leybl Beylis and the private tutor Hershl Katz. Their declared demands were: higher pay, shorter 10-hour work days, and to ensure apprentices should not have to do housework.

The secret and clandestine meetings took place in small groups in the nearby forest. In town there were three Russian policemen to keep order and two gendarmes to supress every national or social movement. When the nationalist rebellion movement and strikes became increased, the gendarmes called upon 10 Cossacks, and together they began to make “order”. They arrested the leader of the rebellion, the landowner Podchasky. A combat group broke into the jailhouse, took the arrestee and hid him in the pharmacy. A larger group of Poles, with the firefighters and their orchestra, demonstrated in the marketplace with the national flag. The Cossacks arrived on their horses, shot in the air. There was an uproar in town. The shops closed and everyone ran. Arrests took place. Avrom Baumgarten was also arrested and sent with other Poles to Siberia. He escaped from there to Paris. The National Polish Revolutionary Movement was supressed and the strikes were broken by terror and Cossack's “whips”. However, slowly the worker's conditions in town began to improve. The improvements could be seen in small wage increases as well as a shorter work day.

The revolution and strikes of 1905, the Zionist congresses, the spread of political Zionism of Among Jews in Poland and the death of Dr. Theodore Herzl began to impact the students in the Yeshivas and Houses of Study in our town.

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Besides the fact that Makow was known as a town of Hasidim and pious Jews, there was always a small number of Maskilim (Enlightened Jews), open and hidden. Maskilim like Reb Yosef Rozental, born in 1811, Nokhem [Nahum] Sokolov, an older member, Reb Mordkhai Finkel, born in 1833, whose well – written correspondence from town were published in “Hatzfira” in the 1880s. Sokolov dedicated articles to both in “Hatzfira” after they died. There were other older Maskilim for whom enlightenment and religion, a page of Talmud and an article in “Ha Shachar” about improvement of religion could live peacefully together. Cases of Jewish boys who ran away from the House of Study, their parent's homes, became heretics, activist atheists and assimilationists almost never happened here until the revolution of 1905. At the end of the 19^th century there was a case when a Jewish girl from a prestigious wealthy family allowed herself to be persuaded by a young Christian man, an activist. She ran away with him, converted to Christianly and got married in a church. This was considered a tragedy not only by her family who did everything to try and save her, but by the entire Jewish population who mourned her and recounted this episode with pain and shame for many years.

The attack on religious Jewish life of Jewish youth and students in town came from two directions simultaneously: The Worker's Movement and the National Movement. After the successful strikes, terror and arrests, a secret Worker's Party was founded called the “Bund”. It was founded in Vilna in 1897 and quickly became popular among Jewish workers in Russia and Poland.

The founders were Yakov Gerlitz (who lives in the United States today), Leybl Beylis (moved to London), and the private tutor Hershl Katz. At the same time a group of young people tried to obtain permission from the Russian authorities to open a library called “Lovers of Reading”. Since they did not receive permission the library was opened secretly and was situated in the private home of Marcus Vilenberg who also ran the library with Yekhiel Meir Pliato and Soreh Segal.

There were a few Zionists, Lovers of Zion and shekel purchasers in town earlier. In 1910 a youth organization was founded called “Tzeirei Tzion” (“Young Zionists”). The founders were: Yekhezkl Joloshinsky, his sister Feygele, Yosef Titonovitch, Moishe Bzhoza and his sister Esther, Shloymeh Abludziner, Esther Mokover (today in Israel), Yekhezkl – Mendl Degal, Yosef Hendel, Meir Ostri,

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Yuta Rekhtman, Shimon Rozental and others. Shimon Rozental was elected president and the secretary was Moishe Bzhoza, a son from a wealthy family who graduated from the Russian school, knew Hebrew and Yiddish and until his departure in 1917 was the leader and living spirit of the Zionist movement in town. We lived in his parent's house. I studied at the Yeshiva. One day he took me up to the attic and showed me, in a corner, behind a small wall, on a table, Herzl's picture, a blue and white box from the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet), a few Zionist brochures and a pamphlet stating the protocols of the activities of the “Young Zionists”. He warned me not to tell anyone what I saw. The boys at the House of Study began secretly to read books, learn Russian and became members of the “Young Zionists” and the “Bund”. On these grounds, conflicts developed between fathers and children. Young men left for bigger cities, and some to America. Ben – Tzion Khilinovitch, the son of the head of the Yeshiva, Reb Noteleh, who was preparing to become a rabbi, left the Yeshiva and his home and went to Bialystok. There he studied secular subjects and later became a contributor to the Warsaw daily newspaper “Moment” and other newspapers in Poland.

The Houses of Study slowly emptied of students. A few boys remained in the small Hasidic synagogues of Ger, Amshinov and Alexander.

Great disagreements broke out between parents and children when the youth began to organize a literary – musical evenings under the leadership of Yekhiel – Meir Pliato who had a beautiful tenor voice and could sing. The parents of the children who participated in this event were called to the rabbi, Rabbi Yisroel – Nisn Kupershtokh, who according to his behaviour was more of a Hasidic Rebbe than a rabbi. The parents were warned not to allow their children to participate in this evening. Despite everything, the evening took place in the private home of Hershl Feldsher. The hall was too small for everyone who came to get in. The street was filled with youth as well as older people who were able to listen to the choir sing through the open window on the first floor. They performed Sholem Aleichem's one act play “Only a Doctor”. For a long time after, the youth in town sang the songs sung by the choir that evening; “Feel Brothers Feel”, “May is Here Again”. “The Sun Sets in Flames”, “Great God, We Are Singing Songs”.

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