Memories of Ozarow
(Ożarów, Poland)

50°53' / 21°40'

Edited by: Hillel Adler

Translated from the French by William Fraiberg
Published in Montreal 1997

 

Acknowledgments

Our sincere appreciation to William Fraiberg for permission
to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

 

We also wish to thank:
Renée Fischhler-Adler (Hillel Adler's daughter)
Jean-Claude Kuperminc, directeur de la bibliothèque et des archives,
and Stanley Diamond for assisting in this project becoming a reality.

 

This is:
Memories of Ozarow, Translation of Mémoires d'une ville juive éteinte by Hillel Adler
Translated from the French by William Fraiberg
Published in Montreal 1997 (E 242 pages)

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of
fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities.
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JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification.
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ozab000a.jpg
 
ozab000b.jpg
Town square of Ozarow, December 29, 1993   Typical houses of Ozarow, July 26, 1996

 

Dedication viii
Preface x
By Way of Introduction xii
Why I Translated this Book xiv
Yiskor xvi
 
1 GEOGRAPHY
Map of pre-war Poland Showing Location of Ozarow 2
Geographic Setting of Ozarow 3
 
2 HISTORY
The Beginning 6
The Chronicle of Martin Ksambor 6
Ozarow in the 17th and 18th centuries 6
Ozarow in the 19th century 7
Ozarow in the 20th century 8
The Jewish Cemetery 9
 
3 CUSTOMS
The Jewish Community of Ozarow and its Organization 13
Education in Ozarow 15
Associations 19
State and Religious Anti-Semitism 26
The Summer Resort in Struza 29
Shloime Mandel and the Dream of Moishe-El'ye 31
Moshke Manheim, Hero of the Spanish Civil War 34
God will Pay 35
Prices 37
That was our Lot 38
Three Boys Who Got Trapped 39
Financial Transactions in Ozarow 41
A Dispute Between Neighbours 43
Obsession with Military Service 45
Nicknames 47
Goats and Jails 51
Electric Lighting in Ozarow 54
Representation Before the Rabbinic Court 56
Maurice Rapoport's Memories from 1925-31 58
 
4 OCCUPATIONS
Learning a Trade in Ozarow 62
Small Trades for a Young Man 65
Women's Trades 67
Tailors, Shoemakers and Pedlars 72
Tuesday, Market Day in Ozarow 75
Settling Accounts at the Ozarow Market 77
The “Sekwestrator” 78
At the Carters' and Teamsters' Crossroads 81
The Water Carriers 83
The Musicians 85
Doctors and Medicine in Ozarow 88
Three Ozarow Families Three Different Ways of Life 91
 
5 FAMILY
Shime-Leib the Miser 96
Orphans in Ozarow 98
Civil Status in Ozarow 100
The “Spivoks” 103
Family Matters 105
Reb Yoiel Fudym's Curse 109
Mechel (Michael) Flicker, Eulogy for a Hero 115
 
6 MARRIAGES
Five Daughters of Chaskiel Teperman 136
Yankele Gotlib the Marriage Broker and his Family 141
A Marriage in Lasocin 144
 
7 RELIGION
Rabbis and Prayer Houses 148
Sabbath Preparations in Ozarow 152
Purim in Ozarow 153
The False Tzadik 157
El'ye Rebbi 160
Lag ba'Omer 162
Halitzah 164
Reb David Bromberg's Pardon 166
 
8 EMIGRATION
The Jews of Ozarow and Emigration 170
Salvation Comes from the East 178
A Cry to Escape: Letters to Yidiss Birnbaum from her Sisters 181
 
9 THE WAR
The Beginning of the War 188
A Day at the Synagogue 190
Business in Wartime 192
Hassag, the Labour Camp of Skarzysko 194
The First Selection 196
Shloimele the Ozarower 198
An Eye for an Eye 201
The Ghetto 202
Yankel and Dyna 205
Return to Ozarow in 1945 207
 
Epitaph 212

 

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