Who and Where
Biographies (cont.)

[Page XXX]

   

Son of Sholem and Chaya. Born in Czenstochow on the 15^th of April 1885. Left Czenstochow in 1913. Came to America from Canada in 1914. He is a member of the Jewish-Folk Union and the Czenstochower Regional Union in Detroit where he is one of the active members. Was president for a time.

Son of Yehoshua Dovid and Feiga Dwoyra. Born in Czenstochow on the 25^th of December 1896. Came to America in 1920. In Czenstochow, was a member of the Left Poalei-Zion organization; managing committee member of the workers' home and of the co-operative. In Detroit he is a member of the Jewish Folk-Union and of the Czenstochower Regional Union

[Page XXXI]

Son of Yehoshua Dovid and Feiga Dwoyra. Born in Czenstochow on the 22^nd of April 1892. He left Czenstochow in 1913. Came to America in 1914. He is an active member of the Czenstochower Regional Union. His two sons – Berl and Yeheil – served in the American army.

Born in Noworadomsk to well-to-do parents of Hasidic background. Her father, Josel Hamer, had a sock factory in quiet partnership with Shlomoh Henekh Rabinowicz, the son of Khesed l'Abraham.

At the time of the First World War, Shlomoh Henekh Rabinowicz was one of the most famous rabbis in Poland. He was also famous as a great merchant. He amassed a fortune and with it helped impoverished Hasidim. He built Noworadomsker shtiblekh [small houses of prayer] all over Poland and Galicia. Later he moved to Sosnowiec and left the partnership. However, Sarah's father continued with the trade. He traveled widely to the large cities in Poland and, on one such trip, took Sarah with him, traveling to Czenstochow where a part of their family lived.

Czenstochow engraved itself on Sarah's childhood memories and she did not want to go home. She remained with her uncle who had come with her father as a salesperson.

After a few days in Czenstochow, Sarah's uncle loaded her up with many good things and sent her to Radomsk on the pretext that because of business matters, he, the uncle, must remain in Czenstochow.

From that first trip to Czenstochow, as Sarah's father would prepare to go to Lodz, Warsaw, Piotrkow or Czenstochow, without asking, Sarah would immediately pack her small valise and was ready to go with him… However, her father did not want to take her along. Her mother would say one word: “Aha, Czenstochow!”…

(photo, caption: Josel Hamer with his children [sitting – Sarah Hamer])

A lot of water has flowed since then; bloody wars and revolutions have taken place; kings have attacked; the largest villain of all times – Hitler yemakh-shmoy [may his name be erased] arose and made an end of our hometown and murdered our closest and dearest. However, Sarah's memories of her birthplace, Noworadomsk, have remained dear; Czenstochow stands clearly before her eyes. Przedborz, the small shtetl, where her illustrious mother, Frajda, was born is beloved to her. Sarah would travel there, too.

Her father's business grew worse and worse. And suddenly her mother became ill and, just before a doctor arrived, she died at the age of 28.

Her father married a woman from Lodz 6 months after her mother's death, to whom Sarah remained strange and cold… It turned out that her father, too, was not jubilant… Because he suddenly decided to go to America.

They left Radomsk and spent some time in Antwerp, where her father's Gutsha (the step-mother) had family who were large diamond merchants, and in Antwerp the “Mume-

[Page XXXII]

chi” [literally “little aunt,” but Radomsker Jews referred to a step-mother as “Mume”] decided that she was not going further – she wanted us to settle in Antwerp. She did not want to travel to a strange, treif [non-kosher, i.e. irreligious] land. Either Antwerp or back home!... Seeing that she meant it earnestly, Sarah's father then divorced her, gave her 1,000 rubles and she went back to Lodz.

The father with his three young girls continued the trip and they went to Toronto, Canada, to an uncle. In the course of five years her father became a little Americanized and began to build up a knitting factory. He became very ill because of a neglected cold and after several days in bed, he died at the age of 39.

As the oldest of the three girls, Sarah learned the millinery trade (ladies hats). However, during the entire time, some latent restlessness drew her and demanded “something” that was not clear to her – to travel? To wander? The “something” remained very foggy, until she saw Yiddish theater for the first time – Jakob Gordon's “Slaughter” was being presented at that time. She began looking for a way to join the Yiddish theater. Sarah actually had two “loves” – 1) acting and 2) writing. In the first “love” she found her solution – in Toronto, she joined a dramatic group and performed with amateurs and played great roles. This, however, did not satisfy her – she was drawn further to the wider Yiddish theater.

Sarah left Toronto and came to New York to become an actress. After strenuous effort and long hardship she reached the professional theater where for 7 years she played with various companies in America and Canada. She performed with Boris Tomashevsky, Regina Prager and J. Adler when they were already in their last years of glory. She also performed with various companies. She played all kinds of roles: dramatic, comedic and also frivolous young women. She had very good reviews. However, the life of wandering, the theater politics – this all undermined her health and a doctor told her to give them up for a little while – perhaps a year or two more.

While she performed in the provinces, she wrote a “diary” that described the whole gypsy life… the behind-the-scenes politics… the jealousy and hate that eventually undermines the soil of the Yiddish theater. It also included pictures of the cities and towns with various occurrences.

In the days that were sad and heavy on her heart, she would find comfort and relief in the pen.

When she remained in New York after a long tour, she read her diary again and again and it showed her that it was not badly written. She decided to take it to the editor of the Tog [Day] and she waited with a pounding heart for an answer. The answer was that “The Diary of An Actress” is extraordinarily interesting and written with talent; alas, the diary could not be published as it was written because it would result in the closing of all of the Yiddish theaters… The editor is of the opinion, however, that she should be sure to write because the diary shows a talent for fiction and she should write a story and send it to the editor… She then wrote her first story: “Florence – the Shop Girl” and again sent it to the editor of the Tog and with a pounding heart waited for an answer. And the answer came quickly with a check for 40 dollars. And immediately, it was widely announced on the first page of the Tog that this week publication begins of a story by a new talented story teller – Sarah Jacklin, entitled “Florence,” which will run from Shabbos to Shabbos. The story began publication on the 20^th of April 1934. Since then, her stories and novels have been published, in addition to the Tog, in [Undzer] Weg [Our Way] in Mexico, in Amerikaner [American], in the New Yorker Wokhnblat [New York Weekly], in Kinder Zhurnal [Children's Journal], and in the Toronto daily newspaper, Der Yidisher Zhurnal [The Yiddish Journal], in Zhurnal Chicago, in the Yidisher Welt [Jewish World] of Cleveland. Many of her writings were re-published in South America, as well as in the Lodz and Warsaw Yiddish newspapers, before the last horrible world war broke out.

Now her first book has come out – Lives and Images, published by the Noworadomsker Society. This book was warmly received by the critics and received a warm response from writers as well as readers across the country. However, she was not content to sit and rest and to be satisfied with her previous creations. She is now busy with writing a larger novella, but her greatest dream was always to return home in order to see and to absorb and, later to write. However, as there is no longer any home… it is only to look at the city where her cradle stood and to be at her mother's grave; to travel to Czenstochow where among the survivors remain the last threads of her large family, a look at Przedborz, where her mother was born, whose bright memory she carries with her always.

Son of Naftali and Sara. Born in Amstow on the 27^th of September 1888. Came to America on the 21^st of May 1921. In Czenstochow, he took an active part in the work of the S.S. [Zionist Socialist] party. He, also, spent 6 months in prison as a result of the struggle with the so-called “nice fellows.” In Chicago, he is an executive member of the Czenstochower Educational Union.

[Page XXXIII]

Son of Berl and Ruchl. Born in Amstow (Poland). He died in 1936 in Czenstochow at the age of 75. The father of Itche and Benny Handwerker.

Son of Naftali and Sara. Born in Amstow on the 15^th of August 1885. He married Chaya (Annie) Moskowski. Came to America in 1905. He is a member of the Arbeter Ring [Workman's Circle] and of the Czenstochower Educational Union in Chicago. His son, Harry, served in the American army.

Daughter of Yisroel and Chana Beila. Born in Czenstochow. Came to America in 1922. She died on the 17^th of September 1941 in Chicago.

Son of Zalman and Yentl. Born in Janow (Poland) in 1892. He married Sara Fajner. Came to America in 1922. He is a member of the Sosnowicer and Bedziner Society where he is a hospiteler [landsmanschaft member who visits the sick in hospitals].

Born in 1869 into a family of misnagdim [opponents of Hasidism] and raised in a traditional religious spirit. Himself a maskil [adherent of the Enlightenment], he mastered the Hebrew language and also the new literature, as well as foreign languages. With the founding of political Zionism, he belonged to the Zionist movement. He was one of the founders of the first Jewish Zionist clubs in Czenstochow (in the time of the Czar when all political organizations were banned). In 1916, he entered the city council as a councilman representing the Zionists; One of the co-founders of the Jewish gymnazium [high school] in Czenstochow and a longtime member of the managing committee. He was also a member of the Jewish artisan's shul in Czenstochow and of the Zionist organization; he also was the synagogue warden of the Czenstochower kehile [Jewish community]. He was one of the Czenstochower industrialists. He died in 1924.

Born in Szerew [?] in 1876. At age 11 he began to work in a bakery in Zanew [Janow] for 11 rubles a year with food and board. The work began Shabbos at night after havdalah [closing Shabbos prayer] and ended Friday at the candle lighting. At age 12, he came to Czenstochow and, until he was 21, he worked for Lozer Wilinger on the Blich. He served in the Russian army for 5 years. After this he married Yentl Szlumer. In 1902, he was mobilized as a result of the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Leaving his wife and child, he was sent to Brest-Litovsk. On the way east, he traveled with a Greek Orthodox priest, who agitated for the revolutionary movement.

In 1905, Shlomoh Horowitz returned to Czenstochow and joined the S.S. [Zionist Socialist] party. He was then working for Moshe Funtowicz and Kopl Auerbach. In 1907, when a difficult struggle began between the bakery workers and the owners, Feivish Jakubowicz, who led the struggle against the workers, was shot and several [workers] such as Shimeon Siditzki were arrested through denunciations. Shlomoh Horowicz was also arrested in Orbach's bakery at Warszawer 11. Shlomoh Krasziner, the groiser [large] Leib and the gruber [fat] Berish were arrested before him. Later, Yehezkeil Litwak and the two apprentices who were called the “black monkeys” were arrested. We sat in the Piotrkow prison for three months, then received “freie vysykla” [free deportation – travel from place to place to complete a sentence].

“Gruber” Berish, Shlomoh Krasziner, “groiser” Leib and the “monkeys” were exiled to Vilna and Shlomoh Horowicz was sent to Smolensk, from there to Homel, Kiev, Kishinev, Argeyev, Bessarbia – all in a “procession of convicts.” The trip lasted three months. Then he wandered from shtetl to shtetl, over a part of Russia, going as far as Odessa. From there, Sh. H. returned to Minsk; across the Kaliszer border, he arrived in German Ostrow and from there was sent back to Kalisz. Here he again spent three months in prison and again – on a vysylka – through Warsaw and Brisk to Vilna. He was in Vilna for 9 months and brought his wife there. In 1911, he returned to Czenstochow.

[Page XXXIV]

The bakery owners did not permit him to work. He joined a baker's minyon [prayer group] and after davnen [praying], he agitated among the workers to organize a union, which was later legalized by the Czarist government. The leaders of the union were Abraham Munowicz, Shlomoh Horowicz, Chaskl Baklasz, Avraham Rozenblat, the shwartze [dark] Moshe and Rafal Wolman.

Two members of the intelligencia worked with the union: Frida and Ganzwa.

In 1912, due to a denunciation by the bakery bosses, Sh. H. and a group of bakery workers were again arrested and served for 3 months.

In 1919, in now independent Poland, the union declared a strike of the bakery workers and the entire management committee was tried for alleged terrorism.

The representative of the Prof. Class Unions, Antony Kermaz, gave evidence at the trial that the starost [village chief] had been bribed by the owners. The accused were defended by Ludwig Honigwil (now in America). All of the accused were freed.

Sh. H. was a member of the managing committee of the bakers union until he left Czenstochow in 1930.

In Toronto, Canada, where he settled, he works as a baker.

Daughter of Elya and Ruchl Wajsberg. Born in Amstow (Poland). She died at the age of 53 in 1922 in Czenstochow.

Daughter of Ahron and Yachet Gwercman. Born in Czenstochow on the 25^th of October 1907. She is socially active in a series of institutions and takes an eminent part. She is a member of the Czenstochower Independent Union in Chicago and of the Aid Society where she is Vice Chair Lady. Her two sons, Yenkl Josef and John, served in the American army.

Son of Zalman and Yentl. Born in Janow (Poland) on the 25^th of October 1890. Came to America in 1913. His two sons – Joe and David – served in the American army.

Daughter of Avraham and Dwoyra Ester Essig. She died at the ago of 62 in Czenstochow in 1910. She was the mother of Ita Lenczner.

Son of Mordechai and Miriam. He died at the age of 74 in Czenstochow in 1924. The father of Ita Lenczner, New York.

Son of Yankl and Fradl. Born on the 28^th of February 1887 in Czenstochow. Came to America in 1906 from England. He left Czenstochow in 1900. Belonged to the P.P.S. and was active among the Polish workers. In London he was again connected to the party, came

into contact with Pilsudski and Wasilewski. Returned to Poland for 7 months and there organized the general strike. In 1905 he was a delegate of the London P.P.S [Polish Socialist Party] group to the Socialist International in Amsterdam.

Here in America, he is a presser and is a member of Local 3.

Son of Henech and Sara Leah. Born in Czenstochow in 1890. Came to America in 1906. He married Yetta Finkler in 1919. Is one of the founders and former secretary of Czenstochower Branch 261 of the Arbeter Ring in New York and also a member of the Wieluner Society in New York. Was one of the founders and secretary of Czenstochower Aid Society in New York and today he is a member of United Czenstochower Relief in New York. His two sons – Irving and Bernard – served in the American army.

Return to Index

[Page XXXV]

   

This is the history of a typical worker's child who, thanks to his inborn abilities and diligence, rises to be a leader and fighter for the working masses. Shimeon Waldfogel was born in 1887 in the village of Krzywanice (Radomsko County) to a Jewish farmer. His childhood was spent in the village environment. When he turned 5, his father hired a teacher for him in a neighboring town, Sulmierzyce, and early every morning the small Shimeon had to run two kilometers to the town to study Hebrew. He learned quickly and showed a great deal of understanding.

The kheder did not satisfy him for long. The village was too confined for him. His father also saw no practical purpose for him to remain in the village. He apprenticed him to a tailor in Sulmierszyce – a small nearby shtetele.

Shimeon's rare abilities, his healthy commonsense helped him and even in difficult circumstances, he was successful in learning something. He started to read a book, a small brochure and thought through various questions. He also progressed in his work, became a considerable journeyman and in 1903 traveled to Czenstochow where he received a first class work position.

One of the first Poalei-Zion organizations was in Czenstochow. In 1904, right at the start of its creation, Shimeon became one of its most devoted members. He won the trust of all of his comrades with his devotion to and love of the ideal of the working class and he quickly became one of the most agile and most efficient propagandist-organizers. When the first wave of strikes broke out, young Shimeon stood at the head of a group of comrades in organizing a tea hall and low-cost canteens. One large tea hall was organized by Poalei-Zion in the summer restaurant in the “Tivoli” garden.

After the failure of the revolution, Shimeon was strongly persecuted by the Russian police, until he was forced to emigrate abroad, at first to Germany, then to Switzerland and later to Paris, where he remained for a few years and was active as a managing member in the German speaking section of the Tailor's Syndicate in Paris. Throughout his immigrant life, Shimeon maintained close contact with Poalei-Zion abroad.

Czenstochow was occupied by the German military regime during the first weeks of the First World War and the first victims of the war – the working masses – were thrown out of the workshops and factories into the street. Self help institutions became necessary; Shimeon was here. He organized a tea hall, a low cost canteen and created the “worker's home” of that time. He organized a professional union, a children's home, a dramatic circle and evening courses for adult workers.

In 1918 he organized the first regional conference of the Zaglebier region. The political work greatly increased and Shimeon was elected as a councilman on the Czenstochower city council and he was beloved by the entire Jewish population in the city, thanks to his devoted activities. Shimeon was a delegate to the first meeting of the Poalei Zion party in September 1918.

He neglected his private life and in 1919 he went to Sosnowiec to work. Here, too, he took an active part in the party work, traveling around the region. At the beginning of 1920, he became ill with typhus and died in his bloom of youth, in the middle of his work for his great ideal – for Poalei-Zionism.

Son of Shmuel and Chava. Born in Czenstochow on the 8^th of August 1904. He began his first steps in the workers' movement with the Bundist youth organization Tzukunft [Future]. There were about ten young members in the youth organization during the years 1921-22, among them Comrade Mendl Wilinger, a bakery worker. They did not show any great activity at that time. From Warsaw, only the Yugnt-Werker [Young Worker] – the weekly newspaper for the working young – was received. Activity first increased when a teacher from the Y.L Peretz School in Czenstochow came to help. On the agenda of the first meeting in which she took part was the item “reorganization.” Wargon was the secretary for the meeting.

A large number of new members came from the youth sections of the professional unions that were under the influence of the Bund. One of the new comrades was Yitzhak Stopnicer of the Tailor's Union who later grew to be the leader of the Bund youth [organization], Tzukunft.

On several ocassions joint May celebrations by the entire worker youth of the city took place. Wargon appeared as a representative of Tzukunft at one of these May celebrations.

He and Mendl Wilinger were delegates to a regional meeting of the Czenstochower area.

At a demonstration for the 1^st of May, he observed who were the railroad workers, the coal miners, the thousands of workers in the steel factories and who were the tailors, shoemakers, bakers and workers in small factories. The former were almost all not Jews and the latter – all Jews. This thought led him to the idea of a homeland in Eretz-Yisroel. He left the Bund and joined the Left Poalei Zion. He did not remain there for long.

He joined the leftist movement, although it was illegal and everyone who took part in in-

[Page XXXVI]

dependent Poland was persecuted and tortured in prison.

In 1921, at age 17, he was drawn into the Prof. Union of the Clothing Industry by his cousin, Chaim Erlikh of Kamyk. He lived at Second Street 40 and was under the influence of the Bund.

At the time, a youth section was organized in the union. There he received his first enlightenment as a worker. He was elected as chairman of the youth section.

A second Prof. Tailor's Union existed at that time – New Market 2, which was under the influence of the left and a youth section existed in this union, too.

The existence of two prof. unions in the same trade had a largely bad effect on the condition of the tailors. Understand that this was the result of party struggles between the Bund and the left. It lasted for years until they were merged.

Just then Wargon came to America. This was May 1928. Today, his membership book remains as a reminder, with the following signatures: Dreksler, Tobiash Wargon, Meler, Sticki, Goldberg.

Kopl (Karl) Wargon is a member of the A.F.F. Order Br. 11 and executive member of the Y.L. Peretz School in New York.

He married Hudes Wargon in 1928.

Son of Shmuel Dovid and Chaya Tzipora. Born in Czenstochow on the 18^th of July 1878. Member and former president of the First Dzialoszyner Khevra Anshei Bnei Achim, gabay of the Khevre Kadishe [burial society], co-founder and active member of the Czentochower Aid Organization and Relief Committee in New York.

His son-in-law, Sam Wein, was a doctor in the American army and died on the 10^th of July 1943. His son, Seymour served in the American army.

Our last house was the house we inherited on Garncarske or Teper Street 77.

From our house to the government buildings and to the river, where we swam during the summer and spent time at the marshy shore, was a few minutes walk. The fate of the house was, perhaps, the same as all of the Jewish houses in the ghetto. However, the red brick two-story house will always remain in our memory – our dwelling in Czenstochow from which we parted forever when we left for America.

He was the first to leave. This was before the First World War. After the war, with the greatest difficulty, he brought all of us – our father, may he rest in peace , our mother and five brothers – to America and in that way saved several generations of our family from doom. He and his wife Lina, who devotedly helped with the difficult task, should be inscribed in eternal memory and appreciation by us, our children and future generations.

He lived in Czenstochow, from which it was difficult to part, for most of his life. Here in America, he always remembered his birthplace with affection.

He was a religious Jew. The shul and the beis-midrash were bound with his spiritual life, although he was a modern – according to European concepts – person.

He died in Chicago at the age of over sixty and was buried in the Czenstochower cemetery in Chicago.

His will be remembered always by his wife, children and all who knew him.

Through these lines we greet and send a heartfelt greeting to all the surviving brothers and sisters in our birthplace, Czenstochow, where several generations of our family lived out their years and, also, all Czenstochower landsleit in America and in all the world.

Our bitter fate is that in our time, Jewish Czenstochow, which generation after generation built and created, was almost entirely annihilated. However, as long as our eyes are open, we will remain bound to our birthplace and brotherly bound with all of our landsleit wherever they find themselves and who we will remember when reading this book, Czentochower Yidn.

Our mother, Tzviah Warszawski, née Blajweis. Born in Czenstochow in 1870. Her father's name – Hershl, her mother's Tzirl. She was and is one of the most active women in the aid work of the Czenstochower Educational Union

[Page XXXVII]

in Chicago and the Ladies Aid Society.

David Warszawski, born in 1899, and his wife, Annie (née Fajnarc). Live now in Oklahoma.

Abraham Warszawski, born 1908, and his wife, Shirley (née Fen). Came to America in October 1922.

Meir Warszawski, born 1895, and his wife, Lina (née Szusterman). Lives in Columbus, O.

The Warszawski family together in America consists of six families, twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild. In addition to the two brothers in Oklahoma and Columbus, all of those remaining live in Chicago.

Reuven Warszawski, born in 1896, and his wife, Ita (née Weisfelner). Former president and vice president of the Czenstochower Educational Union in Chicago.

Ahron Warszawski, born in 1893, and his wife, Dwoyra (née Grojman). Member of the Czenstochower Educational Union in Chicago and of the Brzeziny Society.

Hercke Warszawski, born 1901, and his wife, Klara (née Grynberg). Came to America 1920. Belongs to the International Worker's Order and to ICOR [organization of Yiddish speaking working class immigrants].

Daughter of Heimy and Fanny Yoskowicz. Born in Czenstochow in 1909. Came to America in 1920. She is a member of B'nai Brith and of the Jewish Congress in Detroit.

Like all Jewish children, he spent his childhood in kheder. His father, a tailor, wanted him to be a beis-midrash bokher [prayer house young man – i.e. wanted him to study]. Although only 13, Mendl understood that this was not practical and he became a painter.

He worked very hard, from early to late at night and remained religious.

In 1905 he was drawn into the Bund. He read much revolutionary literature and became an active party worker. His new belief was in socialism and the Jewish worker under the flag of the Bund as its avant-garde.

When the reaction again lifted its head, he was not surprised. There was no work then and in 1908 he had to emigrate to America, although the Bund appealed to its members that they should not leave the place of struggle.

His spiritual thirst was quieted in America through Josef Szlosberg's and Dovid Pinski's lectures. Later he moved to Pittsburgh and joined the Jewish branch of the Socialist Party.

He was with the pro-German side in the S. P. at the beginning of the First World War. However, the Kerensky revolution in Russia and Wilson's 14 Points completely changed his views. He left the party after the pro-German declaration of the S. P. at the St. Louis convention.

In the end, Bolshevism in the Soviet Union, the demoralizing struggle between the right and the left in the workers' ranks in America, led to his complete disappointment in socialism and, in the end, led to his return to religion and into a believer.

[Page XXXVIII]

He became united with the Zionist movement and joined the Revisionists.

Son of Aba and Frajdl. Born in Czenstochow on the 25^th of May 1877. Came to America in 1920. His three sons – Avraham, Willy and Jakov served in the American army; Avraham had the rank of captain.

Born in Radomsk; died August 1919 in Czenstochow.

Daughter of Yitzhak Meir and Gala-Hinda. Born in Czenstochow and died there in April 1895.

Son of Yitzhak Shlomoh and Tauba Gitl. Born in Dombrowa [Dabrowa Gornicza] on the 20^th of February 1895. He marred Dobra Szinjawski. Came to America December 1912. Is one of the founders and most active members of the Czenstochower Regional Union in Detroit for the entire time of its existence. His son – Morton – served as a corporal in the American army.

Born in Czenstochow and died there in October 1922 at the age of 64.

Son of Eliezer and Chaya Rywka. Born on the 28^th of April 1883 in Czenstochow. He marred Minnie Weksztajn. Came to America December 1904. His son, Henry Ruwin, and his daughter served in the American army. He is a member of the Czenstochower Society of Young Men in New York and the “Masons.”

Son of Eliezer and Chaya Rywka. Born in Czenstochow on the 5^th of June, 1895. He married Fanny Klajnman. Came to America on the 15^th of July 1913. Is a member of Czentochower Educational Society, Czenstochower Independent Union and of the Jewish National Worker's Union. He and his wife, Fanny, are the most active in all of the above mentioned institutions. They are always executive officers and trustees.

Son of Zalman and Golda. Born in Czenstochow on the 25^th of October 1888. Came to America on the 12^th of August 1912. Is a member of the Czenstochower branch 261 Arbeter Ring in New York.

Son of Zalman and Golda. Born in Czenstochow on the 1^st of July 1884. Came to America on the 6^th of September 1906. He is a member of the Czenstochower branch 261 of the Arbeter Ring committee to visit the sick in New York; one of the founders and active workers of the Czenstochower Aid Union and also a member of United Czenstochower Relief in New York and of the book committee for Czenstochower Yidn.

Son of Abraham and Bayla. Born in Czenstochow. Came to America on the 22^nd June 1912.

[Page XXXIX]

Son of Grunem and Ruchl'e (died in New York and buried at the cemetery of the Czenstochower shul in Elmont, L.I.). Yehezkeil was born in 1896 in Czentochow. Came to America in 1913. He was drawn into the famous Branch 6 of the Poalei-Zion party and was a member until his departure in 1920.

Yehezkeil Win was secretary of Czenstochower Relief during the years 1918 – 1922 and, with a number of other landsleit, founded the Czenstochower branch 111 of the Jewish National Workers Union where he was secretary for many years. He was also a member of the city committee of the union and of the general executive. Right after the First World War, he and Moshe Z. sent a library to the Workers' Home of Paolei-Zion in Czenstochow.

In 1924, he married Yeta Glater of Czenstochow. They have two children.

Yehezkeil Win is still an active member of the National Workers Union, branch 10, which is not a Czenstochower landsleit branch, but consists of Jews from all over, but united in the idea of a free world and the restoration of the Jewish people as members of the family of man with equal rights.

Son of Shmuel Josl and Ruchl. Born on the 28^th of December 1890 in Czenstochow. Married Celia Enzel. Came to America on the 15^th of January 1913. Is a member of the Hungarian Society. His son, Julius, served in the American army as a sergeant.

Son of Shmuel and Ester Sheindl. Born in Czenstochow. Came to America in March 1915. He was one of the most active members of the Czenstochower Neighborhood Educational Society in Chicago, executive member for many years and former president of the society. He was active with Aid until the last minutes of his life. He died at age 52 on the 14^th of July 1943.

Son of Shmuel Josl and Ruchl. Born on the 24^th of April 1892 in Czenstochow. Came to America on the 14^th of July 1914.

Son of Dovid and Ita. Born on the 8^th of June 1899 in Czenstochow. He married Chana Lustigman. Came to America in 1920. His son, Isidor, served in the American army.

Son of Yitzhak and Shifra. Born in Czenstochow on the 9^th of May 1888. He married Gitl Hantwerker. Came to America in 1920. He is a member of Czenstochower Educational Society in Chicago. His son, Heimy, served in the American army.

Son of Israel Sholem and Chana. Born in Czenstochow on the 30^th of April 1891. Came to America from London on the 2^nd of October 1913. He is an active member of Branch 581 Arbeter Ring [Workman's Circle] in New York, of the Labor Party, Finance Secretary of the Bronx Arbeter Ring School 2. He is also a member of United Czenstochower Relief in New York. His son, Arnold, served in the American army.

Son of Sam and Bertha. Born in Czenstochow.

Son of Hershl and Reizl. Born in Polamaniec (Poland); he died there in 1915 at the age of 66.

[Page XL]

Daughter of Leizer and Rywka. Died at the age of 68 in Chicago on the 13^th of April 1926.

Son of Moshe and Rudel. Born in Polamaniec (Poland) in 1886. He died on the 25^th of May 1918 in Chicago.

Son of Moshe and Rudel. Born in 1889 in Polamaniec (Poland). Came to America in 1906. He is one of the most active members and president of the Czenstochower Educational Society in Chicago.

Son of Shaul and Chana Laya. Born in Czenstochow on the 8^th of November 1909. Lives in Aruba, Dutch West Indies. Came to Aruba in 1933. Belongs to the Jewish Aid Society.

Son of Leizer and Ester Malka. Born August 1882 in Koniecpol. He lived in Czenstochow and came from there to America in May 1907 together with his wife Gutshe (née Planszinska), born in Czenstochow in March 1876.

Max Wunik belongs to the Arbeter Ring; member of the Faternal Order; ICOR; Morgn Freiheit [Morning Freedom] Association, President of the Warsaw Support Union.

Son of Mordekhai and Faygl. Born in Koniecpol (Poland). Came to America in 1912. He died at age 82 in Chicago in 1937.

Born in Lelew (Poland). Came to America in 1912. She died in 1938 in Chicago at the age of 84.

Born in Czenstochow on the 26^th of December 1882. Came to America in 1890. He married Rose Weiskopf. Is a member of the Czenstochower Young Men in New York. Now lives in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. His son, Melvin, served as a staff sargeant in the American army.

Came to America in 1906. Here he married a woman from his birthplace. He is occupied with communal work. Active in Czenstochower Relief. Now is Vice President of Czenstochower Young Men

Son of Avraham and Ester. Born in May 1890 in Czenstochow. Came to America on the 3^rd of November 1920.

Son of Elihu and Malka. Born in Czenstochow on the 4^th of July 1897.

In July 1914, he graduated from the Artisan's school in Czenstochow. When the First World War broke out, Czenstochow was occupied by the Germans; he had to find a means to support himself. At that time, the German regime was looking for locksmiths and mechanics to work in

[Page XLI]

Germany in the ammunition factories. He left for Cologne together with several friends, also locksmiths like Wenger – Gotlib, Rizenzan, Najman and Lancman. However, they were not there for long because they were going to be forced to remain there until the end of the war. They decided to escape to Upper Silesia. Wenger and Lancman left first, after them the rest. Wenger and his friend were successful in reaching Glewitz. However, Najman and Gotlib were caught and they were sentenced to six months hard labor in a German prison. The last two remained in Cologne. Wenger often traveled to Czenstochow from Glewitz. Through a bribe, he received a job as a locksmith in the train workshop and right after took part in the first train strike. They issued a demand for better working conditions and higher wages. As an answer, the German officers threatened each striker with arrest. They left the workshop immediately. On the same day they held a meeting at the Polish cemetery. The Social Democrats (S.D.K.P.L. [Polish Social Democratic Party]) led the strike, but there were also traitors. Luckily, the Germans arrived at the meeting place after those at the meeting had left. Many were arrested in their homes. After several days they went back to work with the old conditions. However, the Germans later granted many concessions to the workers. This led Wenger to the idea of founding a metal union. He turned to Moshe Weksler and they brought together all of the locksmiths in Czenstochow. A metal workers union was founded at the meeting. Moshe Weksler was the first chairman and secretary. The newly founded union carried out a whole series of strikes in Shaya Rozensztajn's factory and others.

At the end of the First World War, when the Germans were ready to leave Czenstochow, a group of Jewish workers noticed that the Germans were making preparations to take away the locomotives. The group rendered these plans harmless and the locomotives remained on the spot. The next day the railroads were already under Polish management. However, when the Jewish workers came to work, the found an inscription near the entrance that the Jewish workers were not permitted to enter. This was the first act of freed Poland. The same thing happened in other cities.

A. Wenger joined the S.S. [Zionist Socialist] Party, later – Fareinikte [United] and was a member of the party council and later was elected as a delegate of the metal union to the workers council. At the time, he was completely devoted to the professional movement and helped to organize the Polish union, union of hairdressers and bakery workers. His hardest assignment was to organize the porters.

The porters and their union, which consisted of several hundred people, was divided into several sections: those who have the packages in baskets and carry them on their own backs, often with the help of their wives, and those who worked with horses and wagons and can, in general, be compared with the Chinese rickshaw.

Wenger was the secretary of the porters union for a long time. It not only bettered their material condition, but the union also awoke in them the feeling of human worth and social responsibility. They were devoted to the union with life and soul.

In order to avoid competition, there was a system of equal shares of the daily earnings for the porters with horses and wagons. All worked the same number of hours. This required much energy and patience. However, it was a great success. The porters were very disciplined and carried out the decisions of the union.

When the cooperative was founded, Wenger was hired as the paid manager of the cooperative store on Nadrzeczna Street, in Esig's house. Comrades Feigele Frank and Helenche Pliwacz worked with him.

However hard it was to organize the porters was not even equal to what the employees of the cooperative had to bear from their consumers. First, they wanted to receive their products at once, which were assigned by the city provision office for an entire month. Secondly, the cooperative did not receive enough “popularke-bread” [small round breads] for all of the consumers. An “oganek” (a line) of 300 people would stand and wait, but there were only a hundred little breads a day to distribute.

Wegner left Czenstochow in 1920. He was aided greatly by Comrade Dovid Szlesinger, who helped him obtain an external passport through his unusual energy and acquaintance in the “offices.”

In New York, he was a member of the Czenstochower Arbeter Ring branch 261 and when, in 1926, he moved to Detroit, he was one of the founders there of the Czentochower Aid Union in Detroit that would send help from there to Czentochow and also helped the work of Relief in New York.

He is a member and President of the Manhattan Lodge number 473 and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Born in Koniecpol. He was one year old when his family moved to Czentochow. He studied in a kheder until his bar mitzvah, then in the elementary school with Aronowicz, Szekher, Avner and Leder. During the German occupation of Czenstochow, he obtained work in the train workshop. As soon as the railways were again under Polish management, he was dismissed together with the entire group of Jewish workers. With the help of Comrade Dudek Szlezinger, he obtained employment in public work, digging sewers far under the city.

His attachment to the S.S. [Zionist Socialist] Party began through the metal union where the Jewish railway workers were organized. He was then around 15 years old. When Comrade Khrabalowski began to organize the youth in Shtral [Ray or Beam of Light], he was the first to join the organization with Avraham Brat, Motek Fliwacz and Yoal Wajs and take an active part in the work and also helped organize evening courses. Sam Wenger and Motek Fliwacz represented Shtral in the party ranks.

He left Czenstochow in 1920 at age 17. In New York, he was active in the Czenstochower Arbeter Ring branch 261 until the split. From then on, he belonged to the Odd Fellows.

The first years in New York, he was employed in Morris Lipman's “cloak shop” and joined the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union, to which he belongs until today. He was also active in Czenstochower Relief in New York for as long as it existed.

In 1933 in New York, he married a Czenstochower girl, Sheindl Fajersztajn, daughter of Bruchia Feiersztajn. In Czenstochow, he was an active member of the sports club, “Warta.”

Sam Wenger, with thousands of friends, will keep sacred the oath: never to forget the Czenstochow of their young years, to help the survivors build their lives in a new and free Poland and always honor the memory of the annihilated brothers, sisters, comrades and friends, the casualties of savagery, of Polish anti-Semitism and German cruel murder.

He helped publish the book, Czentochower Yidn, by collecting money. He is a devoted landsleit and contributes according to his abilities to the aid work for his birthplace.

[Page XLII]

Born in Koniecpol (Poland) in 1889. Settled in Czenstochow with his parents in 1903. He took part in the revolutionary movement. Came to America in 1913. He was a member of the Czenstochower branch 261 of the Arbeter Ring. Now he is a member of the Odd Fellows. His son, Albert, served in the American army.

The only surviving brother and sister of the Wraclawski family in Czenstochow. Their parents perished in Czenstochow during the years 1939-1945. Shimkhah and Chava Wraclawski were in the concentration camps of Czenstochow and Buchenwald. They came to America in 1946. Today they are in Philadelphia.

Return to Index

[Page XLII]

   

Son of Moshe Yitzhak and Malka. Born in Konske (Poland). Died at age 90 in Czenstochow in July 1914.

Daughter of Josef and Chana Gryn. Born in Brzeznica (Poland). Came to America in 1920. She died in 1921 in Chicago.

Born in Czenstochow in 1887. His father was called Abo, his mother, Leah. He became a cabinet maker after ending his school years. He would work from 6 in the morning until 10 at night for three rubles a week. On Thursday, work would last the whole night until Friday at noon. The boss was very poor. Life was unbearable.

Lipa Goldman, who came from Lodz and was a member of the Polish S.D. (Social Democrats), was the first one with whom Zaluski became acquainted in the movement for freedom. Zaluski also met Josef and Abraham Grajcer and they all would gather at Avraham Malarcz's on Nikolajevski Street. They tried to collect money in order to improve conditions through a strike; however, they did not succeed at first due to Czarist terror and worker backwardness. Zaluski worked very hard in very difficult conditions and looked

for further ways to participate in the workers movement. Once on a shabbos, a mass meeting of the Bund took place in a forest. This was a protest meeting against the beating of arrested workers. The

[Page XLIII]

police and Cossacks arrived and they dispersed the meeting.

On a Sunday afternoon, when Zaluski went to work, he met a demonstration of a great mass of workers with a red flag on Piotrokower Street. “Down with self rule,” was shouted. The Cossacks came and immediately began hitting with blackjacks. The street was sprayed with blood. This was his first revolutionary experience. He was forced to leave Lodz because of a threat by his boss that he would give him to the police and he went to Stara Wieœ. He came back to Czenstochow six months later, more class conscious and full of courage. He met new comrades. One of them was a Jewish soldier from the Dragoon regiment in Czenstochow – Edelman from Vitebsk. Zaluski and Edelman joined with a representative of the Czenstochow S.D. [Social Democrats] – Olkhowski. The meetings took place at night in the city hall where several Polish comrades were employed. The work among the Jewish workers was difficult, because besides Czerwoni Standar [Red Banner] (Polish organ of the S.D.), there was no Jewish literature. There was no connection to the Bund. Dovid, the Jewish soldier from the Dragoon regiment, introduced Zaluski and his comrades to a Polish non-commissioned officer, Szmiglewski, who was also a member of the S.D. group. However, he was a provocateur. Because of this, Zaluski, Abraham Malarsz and two more comrades were arrested at a meeting. Zaluski's hands were tied; he was beaten with rifle butts and taken to the jail in the city hall. They were transferred to the Piotrkow jail at three o'clock in the afternoon. There they sat in separate cells; they were taken together only for walks. Zaluski took full responsibility at an inquiry. Therefore, he was held in jail together with a Polish comrade for 8 months (all of the others were freed). There were points in the indictment for which he was threatened with exile at hard labor. However, the “Constitution” of 1905 freed him.

They walked from Piotrkow to Radomsk because of the general railway strike, then took a wagon to Czenstochow.

A state of war was declared immediately and repression began again. The police began to search for him and he lived illegally on a false passport. Once, in 1907, his father was arrested because of Zaluski. He was taken out of the sukkah on Garncarske Street [structure built for the holiday of Sukkos in which meals are eaten] while he was eating. However, he was later freed. Zaluski was again betrayed by a provocateur and he was recognized by one of the policemen who came to arrest him. This happened on Teper Street at Szkapen. Zaluski succeeded in leaping from a window and ran to the old market. There he was detained by Fremer's band of provocateurs. The pristov [Czarist Russian police commissioner], Arvuzov, who was there, ordered the beating of him to stop. Later, after the wounds in his head were bandaged, he was again thrown in jail. A military judge sentenced him to 4 months in jail. After jail, he went to military service in Kovkoz. He was home for 6 months after military service, helped the organization of the professional unions and artisans' clubs, until he was again arrested and received a vysylka [banishment] until the First World War.

Now he is in Chicago. He belongs to the Carpenters' Union and here raised two sons – Max and Lawrence; both have served in the American army.

Son of Khanina and Feigl. Born in Myszkow (Poland). He died at age 69 in 1933 in Czenstochow.

Daughter of Avraham and Teltzl Rinsky. She died at age 40 in Czenstochow.

Son of Shmuel and Gitl. Born in Walbrom on the 2^nd of October 1892. Came to America from Czenstochow on the 8^th of July 1913. He married Hena Bluma Szikman. In Czenstochow, he belonged to the S.D.K.F.L. [Social Democratic Party of Royal Poland and Lithuania], later to the S.S. [Zionist Socialists] In Detroit, he was a member of the Arbeter Ring branch 156. Now he is active in the Czenstochower Regional Union and a member of the Revision Commission.

Daughter of Dovid Leib and Feigl Szykman. Born in Czenstochow on the 14^th of April 1897. Came to America on the 29^th of March 1913. She is an executive member of the Peoples' Committee of Russian War Relief, Young Women's Trustee in Mizrachi, European Welfare Fund, Mount Sinai Hospital, Keren Hayesod, Jewish Old Folks Home, War Chest, Red Cross and of the Czenstochower Regional Union in Detroit. She is one of the most devoted and

[Page XLIV]

most active workers in all areas of Jewish and general American communal life.

Harry, the son of Shmuel and Leitshe Zigas, was born on the 29^th of April 1892 in Czenstochow. Came to America in September 1907. His two sons – Seymour and Irving – served in the American army.

Son of Shmuel and Leah. Born in Czenstochow on the 15^th of April 1898. Came to America in 1908. He married Szprinza Stal in 1921. Was a member of the National Workers' Union and of the Czenstochower Aid Union. Now he is a member of the Czenstochower Young Men's Society in New York. His sons – Seymour and Isidor – served in the American army.

Born in Czenstochow. Died on October 26, 1945.

Daughter of Itshe and Rive Stal. Born in Czenstochow in 1901. Came to America in 1914. She married Sam Zigas. She is a member of the Czenstochower Ladies Auxiliary in New York.

Son of Wolf and Sheindl. Born in Czenstochow on the 4^th of June 1891. A child of poor working people. At age 12 or 13, he had already joined the socialist party, Bund, and was one of the dozens of leaders of “combat sections” helping to lead strikes and organize various trades, such as: the tailors, the painters, carpenters, linen sewers, housekeepers and others. He worked with the well known Bundists in Czenstochow – Hershl Blobarsz-Frajman, Rywka from Piotrkow, Yankl Blakharsz and others. He led a number of fighters at the time of the tendency toward pogroms in Czenstochow and had a seat in the city's Center, with Dr. Bronjatowski. He stopped work at the Zapalszarnje factory and others during the general strikes. Distributed illegal literature in the shtetlekh surrounding Czenstochow. He was also arrested by the Czarist police several times.

At the same time, he showed a great love for the stage and acted in the play, “Urial Acosta” with Jakub Ber Silver that was performed with great success in Czenstochow for the benefit of the Bund. He appeared in the role of Ruwin.

After the revolutionary period of 1905, he took part in the creation of an amateur troupe that toured a series of cities such as Zaglembia, Dombrowska, Radomsk, Piotrkow, Tomaszow and others.

He came to America with great difficulty. On the way, he performed on the Jewish stage in Paris, from which he came to America in 1909. Here he lived a difficult life doing various work.

In 1912 he went back to his birthplace, Czenstochow, where he spent 7 months. When he returned to America, he settled in New York and joined the Czenstochower Society of Young Men and there became one of the most efficient members. He was president of the society for a time, member of the Czenstochower Relief in New York. Now he is the treasurer of Czenstochower Young Men and an active member of Czenstochower Relief and the Czenstochower Yidn book committee. His son – Willy – served in the American army.

Daughter of Hilel and Dreiza Jakubson. Born on the 12^th of August 1890 in Riga. Came to America in 1905. She is the wife of Dovid Zitman.

Son of Wolf Leib and Rojza. Born in Czenstochow on the 15^th of November 1888. Came to Galveston in 1912. He has been in America since 1919. [Translator's note: The dates 1912 and 1919 are as published.] He is a member of the F.F. Order and of the Czenstochower Regional Union in Detroit.

[Page XLV]

Son of Mordekhai and Feiga. Born in Rozprza (Poland) on the 15^th of December 1888. Came to America from Paris in 1915.

Morris was born in Czenstochow in 1888. Came to America from Paris in 1915.

Son of Jakov and Chaya Rywka. Born on the 28^th of December 1888 in Zawiercie. Came to America in 1913. He is a member of Machzikei Hadas.

Son of Wowa and Macha Zandsztajn. Born in 1890 inCzenstochow. Spent the First World War as a soldier in the Russian army. Was a member of Achiezer [organization to help the poor], Beis-Lekhem [bread for the needy] and TOZ [Society for the Protection of Health] in Czenstochow.

Daughter of Perec Goldsztajn. Born in 1900 in Kanyev, Ukraine.

These were the parents of Aryeh Leib Zandsztajn, who perished in the years 1939-1945. Their second son, Eliezer Zandsztajn, perished with them.

Son of Yitzhak and Miriam Golda Zandsztajn (née Goldsztajn). Born in Czenstochow on the 13^th of August 1926. Former member of the Polish Workers' Party and officer in the Polish army. He is now in New York.

Daughter of Moshe and Feiga. Born in Piotrkow on the 25^th of December 1884. Came to America on the 4^th of July 1913. She is a member of the Czenstochower Educational Union and of the Aid Society in Chicago.

« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »

  Czestochowa, Poland     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 28 Jun 2007 by LA