Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Aryeh Wanderman

Harriet Brown (emerita)

 

This is a translation from: Sefer Plonsk ve-ha-seviva (Memorial book of Plonsk and vicinity),
Editors: Sh. Zemah, Tel Aviv, Former Residents of Plonsk in Israel, 1963 (H,Y, 775 pages).

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

History of the Project: I particularly want to thank three wonderful women: Debra Korman, who gave me a photocopy of the necrologies at the Los Angeles Jewish Genealogy seminar in July 1998; Harriet Brown, who also suggested that we get this material online and thus prodded me into action; and Beverly Schulster, who volunteered to translate the necrologies even though she has no ancestors from this shtetl and, in fact, wanted no credit for her considerable work. Emerita Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field

Translated by Yocheved Klausner

I. – Jewish Plonsk from its beginnings to WWII
History of the Jews of Plonsk and its Surroundings	Dr. N. M. Gelber	9
My Youth in Plonsk	David Ben–Gurion	31
Hassidism in Plonsk	Shlomo Tzemach	42
Yakov Levi's memories from the Polish rebellion 1830–1831		62
My childhood	Yitzhak Greenboim	86
Years of childhood and youth	Shlomo Lavie	96
Avigdor Green's house	Bracha Chabas	118
A bundle of memories	Israel Krieger	132
The cholera epidemic and a wedding in the cemetery, summer 5654	Motl Michaelson	135
Moshe Hirsh the builder	Yechiel Rosenberg	137
The “Tushiya” books in the Bet Hamidrash	Moshe Elya Henschel	141
Talks with the ADMORs about Zionism	Avraham Green	143
II. Plonsk in the Hebrew Literature
Not with a strong hand	Yehuda Leib Gordon	153
An opponent of Copernicus	David Frishman	158
Two stories	Shlomo Tzemach	161
III. Plonsk in the Jewish Press
Founding the Dorshei Hatora Vehachochma (Torah and Wisdom) Society		167
The Dorshei Hatora Vehachochma School		169
The murder of a Jewish tailor; The charity fund; The hospital and the cemetery; R'Zalman Pozner's Jews		171
A dispute in the shtiebl (chasidic synagogue) on Simchat Torah		174
Jews join the fire–brigade; Cleaning the Heders; A converted to Christianity who repented; A cornerstone for Yitzhak Cohen's Bet Midrash		175
The story of a man bitten by a mad dog; A disqualified shochet [slaughterer] – and the rabbi who stood by him and protected him		176
The innauguration of Yitzhak Cohen's Bet Midrash; In memory of Avraham Eshkol		177
Rav Zvi Yechezkel Michaelson comes to Plonsk; The rabbi thanking the charitable persons who donated to the poor during the epidemic; Collecting donations for the Holy Land; A swindler who deceived a widow		178
A meal for 600 poor people on “The Emperor's banquet;” The firmness of a synagogue treasurer caused sacrilege		179
A mezuza lost in a train and a talented young man; First signs of Zionism in Plonsk; List of donations for Eretz Israel		180
The proposal of the Plonsk delegate to the 2nd Zionist Congress; Words of peace and truth (concerning the question of culture in the Zionist political platform)		181
Rav Michaelson's opinion on Zionism		182
Eulogy for R'Yitzhak Cohen; Foundation of the Benei Zion Association and its books		183
The Zionist “Section”		184
R'Eliyahu Green, may God protect him, visits Jerusalem; Zvi Chaim Tzemach (eulogy)		185
Lectures on Jewish history and Chanuka festivities; Foundation of the Mizrahi in Plonsk; Zionist activities and collecting donations for the Land of Israel		186
Performance of a Hebrew play by Ha'or; The foundation of Maccabi in Plonsk and the Hebrew Literature Society Ha'or		187
Benot Zion [Daughters of Zion] and Benei Zion [Sons of Zion] Association; Sukkot festivities; Mourning Tchlenov; R'Zalman from Pozna		188
How the “San–Remo Decision” was received by the Plonsk Jews		191
The “Young Mizrachi” associations; Welcoming Rav R'Israel Bornstein in Plonsk		192
IV. New Winds are Blowing in Town
The first strike in Plonsk	Yechezkel Yosifon	197
The second strike in town	Yechezkel Yosifon	198
The days of the First World War	Meir Finkelstein	200
The years 1914–1918 in Plonsk	Shlomo Taub	216
Plonsk's contribution to the Hebrew language	S. Hochman–Levkowitz	218
Plonsk between the two World Wars	Shmuel Meiri (Klein)	220
What are the differences between our town and other towns	Tova Elchanani (Schnitzer)	226
In Suchotchin before the Aliya to Eretz Israel	Mary Yatziv	227
The beginnings of the Hebrew Language in our town	Tova Klinitz–Vigdor	228
V. Scholars and Famous People
R'Simcha Aizik of Plonsk	Shlomo Lavie	231
R'Simcha Aizik	Arie Leib Rosenblatt	232
In memory of R'Simcha Aizik	Yechezkel Bet–Halachmi	233
R'Hirsh–Moshe the dayan [judge in the religious court]	Israel Flatau	234
R'Avigdor Green	I. Yatziv	235
R'Yehoshua Chalaf	Israel Yitzhak Kalish	237
Yehoshua Chalaf	Israel Flatau	239
My father, Rav R'Israel Halevy Bornstein, HYD	A. Bornstein	241
Kerem Israel – excerpts	From the book by Rabbi Bornstein	243
Rabbi Yehoshua Mordechai Zukerkorn	Avraham Degani (Zukerkorn)	244
The power of a tune (Cantor R'Eliyahu Hirshin)	A. M. Netzger	247
A modest scholar (R'Yechezkel Blachman)	Eliezer Blachman	248
The artist Yosef Bodko	Dr. Karl Schwartz	249
The Memorial Exhibition	M. Narkis	250
VI. Figures and Landscapes
Melamdim and Heders	Menachem Avni (Steinhaus)	255
Batei–Midrash in Plonsk	I. L. Grushkewitz	259
R'Yosef Flatau	Dr. Yakov Hatarmi	261
Warsaw Street in Plonsk	Tamar Eitan (nee Spiegelman–Zbirtchiadlo)	262
A visit home, from Eretz Israel	Rivka Shachar	265
R'Zev Woftche Segal and his family		268
”The repentant” from the Green Market	Yechezkel Yosifon	271
R'Avraham Green	Israel Flatau	272
Matityahu Broder	Israel Flatau	273
R'Yechezkel Steinhaus	Israel Flatau	274
The martyr's–death of my father, Moshe Korta	Shmuel Korta	275
In memory of Rosa Mustakov–Korta		275
My grandmother Feige the treasurer; my grandfather Moshe Rabinek	Rachel Bet–Halachmi	276
The woman Shoshke Aizik, may she rest in peace	Avraham Green	277
A scholar and a lover of Zion (R'David Blachman)	Family members	278
From Pinsk to Plinsk (Mordechai Yashpe)	Yakov Sappan (Spotzinski)	278
Figures from the Gur Chasidic dynasty	Eliezer Blachman	281
Mendele the fool	Yakov Neta	283
Alter, the “synagogue crier” (announcer)	Israel Flatau	285
Changes in the Plonsk market square	Tzipora Tennenboim	286
A Jewish young boy in our town	Chaim Simchoni (Kalmanovski)	287
Jewish Holidays in Plonsk	Yitzhak Aizik Kalmanovski	287
Avraham Hutnik	M. K.; Israel Flatau	290
Yitzhak Lev z”l	Shlomo Yoram	291
A sketch of Shulamit Perach, may she rest in peace	Reena Peled	292
Kalman Gelberd – a revolutionary and a fighter	Friends; Haviv Canaan	293
VII. Movenents and Parties
Zionist and pioneer spirit	S. Chezkuni	297
The “League for Working Eretz Israel” in Plonsk	M. Metzger	298
The Hechalutz organization in Plonsk	Ch. Mordechai	302
Hashomer Hatza'ir – the mother of the youth movement	Mordechai Chalamish	304
The “training kibbutz” in Plonsk	Israel (Kurt) Herz	308
The Hechalutz movement in Neustadt	Arie Holzman	311
The Hashomer branch in Plonsk	Pinchas Tischman	312
The realization of the dream was put to the test	Shlomo Scher	313
The movement branch in town – a home for the young people	Tova Klinitz	314
”The Zionist Youth” in Plonsk during 1927–1935	Israel Flatau	315
”The Zionist Youth” in Plonsk before WWII	Moshe Lev	318
VIII. Community, Educational and Cultural Institutions
Cultural and educational institutions	Yitzhak Chalaf	325
The “Tarbut” School	M. Chalamish	333
In the educational and cultural institutions	Yakov Neta	335
”Children's education”	Moshe Degani (Zukerkorn)	336
The Drama Circle	Chaia Cohen–Kroin	342
The “Women's Association”	Esther Michaelson	342
The “Visiting the Sick” Society	Hella Kroin	343
Financial institutions in Plonsk	Shmuel Korta	344
The “Tchlenov fund raising”	Rachel Nutkewitz–Schreiber	346
The Maccabi Association during First World War	Moshe Nachmanowitz	347
IX. There Were Days…
I shall never forget them…	Israel Flatau	354
Builders (poem)	Yehuda–Leib Byaler	355
To the town of my childhood, Plonsk	Shlomo Lavie	357
A trial before the religious court, between the earthly Plonsk and the Heavenly Plonsk	Israel Yitzhak Kalish	359
Torah, prayer and livelihood	Moshe Gertman	362
Between Plonsk and Eretz Israel	Rachel Bet–Halachmi	363
Farewell	A. Jonah	366
Memories	Yehezkel Bet–Halachmi	369
The great light that cannot be forgotten	Tova (Gute) Tzomber (Bogen)	370
High–school education to a Hassidic family	Moshe Gertman	371
The new Bet Hamidrash and grandfather R'Yantche z”l	Moshe Nachmanowitz	372
Sabbath–eve in my town	Chaia Gritz–Schiffman	373
Farewell to my birth town Plonsk	Yocheved Eisenberg (nee Cohen)	374
A bundle of memories	Esther Michaelson	375
The town Suchotchin	Binyamin Fuchs	376
I was found innocent….	Yechiel Meir Grossman	379
Our town Neustadt	Tuvia Ga'ash	380
I shall remember….	Tuvia Ga'ash	389
Bits of stories from the life in town	Israel Flatau	390
X. Letters and Documents
A letter to Sir Moses Montefiore		395
A letter from Rav R'I.I. Reines to Rav I.I. Esterson		397
A letter from Nachman Green to Rachel Bet–Halachmi		398
A letter from Yehoshua Chalaf to Rachel Bet–Halachmi		399
A letter from Shalom Aleichem to Mordechai Michaelson		399
A letter from Prof. Yosef Klausner to “The commission for the Western Wall” in Plonsk		400
A letter from Mordechai Yashpe to Simcha Aizik in Eretz Israel		401
A letter from David Ben Gourion to Yehoshua Chalaf		402
XI. “Slain upon the High Places…” (from II Samuel 1:19)
Chaim Yitzhak Bulman		405
Mordechai Guttman		406
Aharon Grushkewitz		406
Avraham Dovno		408
Yitzhak Dovno		408
Israel Danziger		409
Avraham Zisserman		410
Chagi Chezkani		411
Moshe Aharon Chalaf		412
Zvi Taub (Ma–Yaphit)		413
Avraham Cohen (Avrahamik)		414
Yerubaal Lavie		414
Hilel Lavie		416
Shoshana Lunski		418
Chaim Pashigoda		419
Yikhat Rubinstein		420
Levi Spiegelman		421
XII. The Holocaust – The Ruin of the Town and Surroundings
We shall remember (poem)	Aba Kovner	425
The annihilation of the Jewish communities of Plonsk and surroundings	Olga Bernitz	426
From the outbreak of the War to the annihilation	David and Sara Kalmanovski	432
The town is captured by the Germans	Bendet Lefkowitz	446
This is the way it began…	Zelig and Chaia Kroin	449
The labor camp in Nosazhibo	Dov–Ber Kroin	458
Forced labor for women in Sherpatz	Rosa Gamburg	459
The behavior of the neighboring farmers	Halina Lichtage	460
In the Plonsk ghetto	Yitzhak Pashigoda	462
Mafia organizations in the time of the ghetto	Yakov Stamberg	465
I was the ghetto doctor	Prof. Arthur Barr and Dr. Irena Barr	468
Nova Miasto (Neustadt) during the Holocaust	Avraham Blotnik	487
The annihilation of the Nova Miasto community	Chaia Admoni, Miriam Erpe, Zvi Erpe, Bella Barr, Chaia Torover	500
In the Pomikhovk camp	Pages from the Ringelblum archives	508
From Plonsk to Auschwitz	Albert Salomon	510
Historical questionaire on destroyed Jewish settlements and murdered Jewish personalities		511
The last transport	Shoshana Shidlo–Kahana	512
Two letters from the Judenrat to the JOINT (?)		513
Jewish uprising in Auschwitz	Moshe Aharon Pashboznik	514
The Jewish struggle	Ian Ptashinski	518
Memories from the darkness (my way from the Neustadt ghetto to a kibbutz in Eretz Israel)	Zvi Rosenberg	520
The last years before the Holocaust	Yakov Neta	524
The flight to Bialistok	Yakov Neta	526
The Plonsk refugees after the Holocaust	Yakov Neta	527
One day in Plonsk	Meir Shachar	528
The desolate and mournful roads (Plonsk without Jews)	Mordechai Chalamish	532
YIDDISH
XIII. Jewish Plonsk and its Tragic End
With the publication of the book	Shlomo Tzemach	549
A word about the book	The Book Committee	549
Introduction	Mendel Man	551
David ben Gourion – the Plonsker who bore two crowns: the Crown of Torah and the Crown of Royalty	Yehuda Erez	553
Kolakotka	Yitzhak Greenboim	558
Rav Zvi Yechezkel Michaelson	N. Shemen	561
My memories from Plonsk	Mendel Man	570
Plonsk chapters	Yechezkel Yosifon (Blatnik)	591
I shall never forget you	Israel Flatau	597
Memories	Yakov Zaushnitza	598
My hometown	Melech Gute	601
The disappeared home	Dobtche Zhezhak–Gute	614
Memories from my youth	Yakov Yosef Lidina	609
The Plonsk youth after the First World War	Adele Metzger	617
My years in Plonsk	Nachum Gelfand	619
Jewish Labor in Plonsk	A. Tcherniker	622
The “fifth year” in Plonsk	I. Segal	629
The “Workers' Home”	Shmuel–Yakov Taub	633
My grandfather, the Rabbi from Plonsk	Moshe Gershon Cohen	635
My town	Shimon Gelbart	637
Sochocin, the small town near Plonsk	Binyamin Fuchs	639
Przibrowitz	Avraham Scharfstein	641
Memories from Pszibrowitz	A. Boimgart	644
The well and the devil	Shmuel–Yakov Taub	646
Yosef Bodko – the great Jewish artist	Yosef Sandel	648
The painter of the Jewish Street	Mendel Man	651
If it were not for the poet (poem)	Leibel Frankenstein	655
Sarah the midwife	Menachem Avni (Steinhaus)	656
Moshe Feldsher (barber–surgeon)	Yakov Robotnik	657
The Plonsker Landsmanshaft Organization in Argentina	Yakov Robotnik	659
History of the Plonsk (and surroundings) Landsmanshaft in Argentina	Yakov Robotnik	662
A page from the history of Plonsk and surroundings Landsmanshaft in Chicago	Harry Borenstein	667
Testimony of survivors:
Itche Tcherniker		670
Sarah Scheiman–Gelbard		672
Hersh Pshewozhnik		674
Yakov Stamberg		676
A. Blotnik		678
My visit in Plonsk, Ben–Gourion's birth town	S. L. Schneiderman	680
List of Jews from Plonsk and the Surrounding Area who Perished in the Shoah		690
List of Neishtat Jews who Perished in the Shoah		717

 Yizkor Book Project    JewishGen Home Page  

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 30 Apr 2017 by JH

There have been visits to this page since 23 Oct 2014