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D. Personalities

Rabbi Yisrael Szapira, may the memory of the holy be blessed

Rabbi Yisrael Szapira was born in the year 5652 (1892) in Garwolin, a town near Warsaw. He was the son of the rabbi of Kozienice, the Admor Rabbi Elimelech Szapira who was the grandson of the “Saraf” the Admor Rabbi Chaim Meir Yechiel of Mogielnica and great grandson of Rabbi Pinchas of Korec (Szapira).

At a young age, he married Sara Bracha, the daughter of Rabbi Shalom Szapira, may the memory of the holy be blessed, the rabbi of Przytyk, a scion of the Admor of Błędów and Tzanz [Nowy Sącz]. During the brief period of time that Rabbi Yisrael Szapira was supported at the table of his father-in-law, the parnassim [administrators] of the town, those who recognized grace, took note of him, and he was exposed to them in full stature. His essence as a genius became known to the public, and his sublime traits captured every heart. Thus, even though the elderly rabbi had sons and natural heirs to inherit his position, Rabbi Yisrael Szapira was chosen for the rabbinical seat of the town immediately after the passing of his father-in-law. Time proved that this was a good choice. The people of the town accepted the new rabbi with joy, appreciation, and love.

It is difficult to describe the personality of Rabbi Yisrael Szapira in words. Aside from his extensive religious scholarship, he possessed broad erudition. He was an autodidact, expert in Jewish thought and world philosophy. He knew languages: Russian, Polish, English, and French. He enthusiastically loved geography and mathematics. During the later period prior to the outbreak of the war, he was diligent in the study of the renewed, spoken Hebrew language of the Land of Israel. He subscribed to newspapers from Israel. Every object or fruit from the Land (such as grapes for the shehecheyanu blessing on the second night of Rosh Hashanah, an etrog, or the seven species for Tu B'Shvat) that came to his hands was more precious to him than gold.

He regarded himself as a pastor already in the springtime of his life. He was graced with special traits: patience,

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tolerance, love of his fellow. These traits coronated his work with great success. He regarded it as his life role to draw near and educate the youth, and to instill in them the love of Gemara and halachic decisors. He gave classes in Jewish law and morality to a broad circle of youth. His relationship to those who attended his class was loving and friendly. His love for them knew no bounds. They, his students, gathered around the door of his home to listen to his lessons with thirst. He found full satisfaction in his sublime influence upon the youth, especially when he succeeded in distancing them from foreign culture and aspiring toward Communist dreams.

Przytyk was not one of the larger towns in Poland. Its Jews were G-d fearing and careful about both the easy and stringent commandments. Every question on kashrut or the Jewish way of life that arose was immediately brought before the rabbi. He politely answered the questioner in all cases, whether the question was real or imagined. Often, the questioner was a housewife. If the question required pondering and thought, the rabbi would explain the essence to the questioner with simplicity, and would not allow the questioner to leave until he knew that the questioner understood the issue.

The butchers in town earned their livelihoods with difficulty. When a lesion was found on the lung of an animal that had been slaughtered, they feared that the animal would be declared non-kosher, resulting in a great monetary loss. On such occasions, they cast their burden before their rabbi, Rabbi Yisrael Szapira. They knew that the rabbi would not waste time. He would lose sleep, and delve into the Tur, Yoreh Deah and their commentaries in order to find a reason for leniency. He would look at all avenues to search for any opportunity to prevent a monetary loss for a Jew. He worked with the principle, and this was his custom in the laws of kashrut or other areas of religious law, that any time there was a question of monetary loss, he would follow the decisors from the school of Hillel and decide leniently. However, he was stringent in matters concerning himself and his family.

The rabbi would participate in the joyous celebrations in the home of any Jew to which he was invited. The rabbi displayed special interest when he was invited to a circumcision ceremony being held by Jews who lived in the villages. He would never decline such an invitation, despite the difficulties of the journey relating to the weather or means of transportation. He was a mohel [circumciser] himself, and performed his task with trust and dedication, with no expectation of recompense.

There was a Beis Midrash in his house with a regular prayer quorum. He worshipped there on all weekdays, Sabbaths, and festivals. However, on the High Holy Days, he wished to pray with all the Jewish people, so he worshipped in the synagogue in which most of the Jews of the town were gathered. The rabbi led the services himself. His voice was sweet, and his prayers were as someone accustomed to such. On Yom Kippur, he spent the entire time from Kol Nidre until the end of day in the synagogue.

The rabbi had the custom of inviting those close to him for a Melave Malka meal on the Saturday night of the First Selichot. At the end, they would stand up and recite Selichot. At the conclusion of

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Yom Kippur, he would invite them to come and drink beer for a prolonged period, as he would preach about the issues of the day and tell wonderful Hassidic stories. They would rejoice and thank He Who accepted their prayers.

In his position as a rabbi recognized by the authorities, he had to appear from time to time before government officials in the district city of Radom or in the district offices in Kielce. It is said that he was always received politely, and with honor and respect. His presence made an impression. The district officials already recognized him and always responded positively to his requests, arranging his issues without delays, even though these officials were not suspected of loving Jews.

As a rabbi and rabbinical judge in the town, he often had to deal with Torah judgments between Jews from the town or from outside of it. He was well-known for issuing verdicts that were well thought through. Even the litigant who lost the Torah judgment never expressed complaints, and was satisfied in the full justice of the verdict. When litigants came to explain their claims, he did not let them leave until they expressed everything that was in their hearts. When the litigants ended their statement of claim, he went to his room to calmly weigh the claims and formulate the verdict. Sometimes, when he had to consult the Choshen Mishpat [section of Code of Jewish Law] and its commentaries, he would do this work at night. Members of his household would relate that when they woke up in the morning, they would often see piles of books stacked on his table, with the rabbi still bent over them. He was very exacting with the litigants as well as with the arbitrators when the sides expressed the wish to not continue with the deliberations so that they would not bring denigration to the court. Even the gentiles, including poretzes [landowners], would prefer a “Torah judgment” with the rabbi than going to their own courts.

Toward the end of the First World War, the front command of the Austrian Army resided in the town. It was the days of Selichot and mercy [the period surrounding the High Holy Days] and the military government decreed that all residents of the town must contribute to the war effort by obligating all males to dig anti-tank trenches and other fortification for the army. One of those days was a holy day. When the town parnassim found out about this decree, they went to the rabbi to solicit advice as to how to avert this evil decree. They did not see much chance for success, but the rabbi offered to appear before the captains of the command to try to do something. They knew that if the edict was not annulled through a miracle, there was no escaping from fulfilling the edict. Refusing to fulfill it would be interpreted as treason, punishable by death by a military court, even though the Jews were prepared to sanctify the Name of Heaven and refrain from violating the holy day. On the night of Shabbat Shuva [the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur] the rabbi appeared before the sentry next to the command gate (in the home of Avrahamche Cuker) and asked him to inform the captain of the brigade that he wished to be received by him to discuss an urgent matter. After a discussion, the captain of the mast ordered the sentry to bring the rabbi into the room. When the rabbi entered the office of the captain, he noticed that two other high captains were with him in the room, and his entry put an end to their vibrant discussion. The rabbi explained to the captains the essence of Yom Kippur, and expressed

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his request, and the request of those who sent him, to free the Jews of the town from working on that holy day. In return, they were prepared to work on two other regular days. When the rabbi finished his words, one of the captains said to his comrades, “So, let us agree to the request of the rabbi, for in any case, nobody will be harmed.” The rabbi was astounded when he heard these words coming from the mouths of the captains, and immediately realized that the Austrian Army takes interest in Jews, and even in rabbinical scholars.

His Zionistic tendencies were no secret, even though he did not officially belong to any Zionist party. However, the Mizrachi and Revisionist parties were close to his heart – the former for its idea of Torah and labor, and the latter for its extremism regarding the redemption of the Land.

Chaya Szapira of blessed memory, the rabbi's daughter

On the eve of the war ,as well as during the period of Nazi occupation, the house of the rabbi served as a gathering place for those thirsting to know what was happening on the fronts as well as overseas, despite the danger fraught in such. This is the greatness of the believing Jew. Even with a sharp sword resting on his neck, he does not despair. Everyone was searching for spiritual support that would give them the power to stand up to the cruel oppression and degradation of the Jews under the Nazi boot.

The rabbi, being expert in geography and with the ability to read German newspapers, especially what was written between the lines, knew how to and succeeded in imparting hope for better days into the hearts of his listeners. He supported and comforted them, keeping away despair. These activities continued after this in his home in Radom, where he moved after the edict of deportation of the Jews of the town. However, the community of those

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who listened to his lessons would gather in his home in Radom. His classes in Jewish law and morality did not stop until the final day.

In the month of Elul 5702 (1942), he was deported along with his Rebbetzin and their daughter Chayache to the Treblinka death camp with the second deportation. They perished there with myriads of Jewish martyrs. May their merit protect us, and may their memories be blessed forever.

His two sons Moshe and Meir, and daughter Matila succeeded in surviving. They are the sole remnants of the family of Rabbi Yisrael Szapira, may the memory of the holy be blessed, who remained alive. Moshe is a businessman who lives in Kfar Pines. Matila is a housewife in Bnei Brak. Meir is a lawyer, also in Bnei Brak.

He was the son of the rabbi of Kozienice. He was a G-d fearing man, the rabbi of the city. He fulfilled his role with honor. The entire city honored him because of his uprightness and dedication. Like his father, he barely recognized the form of a coin. To him, it was as if this world did not exist…

He loved to study arithmetic, and he was an expert in algebra and geometry. He was of the lovers of Zion. He aspired to acquire land in the Land of Israel and to redeem it from the hands of the Arabs. He knew every point and corner of the Holy Land. Every path was clear to him.

He often expressed: “How good would it be for me if I could get to that Land, to enjoy the clear skies, the azure skies, to plow its soil, to plant, to tend, and to see the fruits of my hand!”

He nurtured the idea of love of the Land. He pushed off the words of the Orthodox Jews against collecting money for the building of the Land, banning Zionism, and waiting for redemption from Heaven.

I heard him explain the expression “And a Redeemer shall come unto Zion”^[1], as “to the built-up Zion”, and not that Zion shall arise in a miraculous fashion.

He had a large library, and maintained a vibrant correspondence with rabbis, including Rabbi Kook.

A large number of rabbis and lovers of the Land organized in all cities of Poland to redeem the soil of the Land of Israel.

I recall the business of purchasing a lot in the Land of Israel. There were three partners – the rabbi, my father, and Yaakov Yitzchak Brusztil. The three of them limited their spending and reduced their family expenses

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A letter of Rabbi Yisrael Szapira, may the memory of the holy be blessed

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which were in any case quite restricted. They saved money so that they could pay for the lot. The rabbi said that redeeming the Land is a great merit.

Finally, the business was cancelled, since the directors of the transaction did not pay their share, and sufficed themselves with collecting money from others to cover their account as well.

After great effort, I succeeded in collecting only 10% of the designated sum from them.

Every year on Shabbat Hagadol (before Passover), he would address the congregation. He always preached about love of one's fellow Jew and brotherhood. He issued a call to live for one's fellow.

He would worship in the synagogue on the festivals. The holiday of Simchat Torah was a joyous event in the city. The entire congregation, headed by the rabbi, went outside and danced. He enthused the people, educated the Jews, imbued them with feelings of brotherhood, friendship, patience, and tolerance. He imbued them with the power to overcome tribulations.

It was not simple to be the rabbi in a small town, neglected by the government, lacking in means, with endless troubles and problems, with a vibrant youth searching for ways in the darkness of the night – without any ray of hope, without the possibility of studying – of advancing in life, learning a profession that would serve as the basis for material life. In this situation, the rabbi had to encourage, to sow hope, to complete himself through independent study. The greatness of the rabbi was connected with all this. His uprightness, straightforward ways, purity – all this guided many of us from this community who survived.

His father-in-law had also been the rabbi of Przytyk. He raised a generation of rabbis. One of them, Rabbi Chaim, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, of Płock, was killed during the time of the First World War. He was accused of espionage at the time of the sanctification of the moon on Saturday night.

The community loved to hear him speak of the land of Israel. An aura of holiness enveloped him at such moments. His entire self was joy and hope. His eyes shone with happiness.

Rabbi Yisrael Szapira was murdered by the Nazis, may their names be blotted out, along with a large portion of our nation and our townsfolk.

He was modest in his ways and speech. He was a communal activist who tirelessly fought for justice throughout his life with dedication. He was an active member in the Poalei Zion party already in the city of Przytyk. More than once, he rose up against anti-Semitism and protected with his body Jews who were persecuted or beaten by gentiles. During the disturbances of 1936, Moshe Furszt played an active role in defending the town against the perpetrators, and he was sentenced to prison. After he was freed, he made aliya to the land. His home was a place of refuge for all Przytyk natives who made aliya. He helped them with their initial adjustment, with monetary loans, and work. He was active in the Organization of Przytyk Natives. He left a large family, a wife and children who were rooted in the Land. He lost a son in the War of Independence. Their names will never depart from our memory.

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Yisrael Bauman of blessed memory

He made aliya in 1937 as a dedicated Zionist pioneer. He always worked from the building of the Land, with roads. He was a simple tradesman. He worked hard until the end of his life.

She was the wife of Chaim Yehoshua Lange. The family arrived in the Land as pioneers already in 1936. The Lange family worked a great deal and donated money for Zion. Her father, Yitzchak Meir of blessed memory, had been the head of the community in the city of Przytyk, and an owner of estates. He supported the people of the Hachsharah Kibbutz who were preparing themselves for aliya. She imparted that pioneering spirit to her children, and sent his son, may he live, and his daughter-in-law of blessed memory to the Land. She passed away before her time. She left behind a husband and two children.

Even though his family name was Pacanowski and he was the Soltis [magistrate] of the Jewish community of Przytyk, he was known in town as Moshe-ben-Rivka-Menucha. His was known for his uprightness and dedication, as well as his willingness to help. He was always busy with something. He worked from 4:00 a.m. until late at night, both in supporting his family and in communal affairs.

The First World War inflicted disaster upon his family. The murderers and pillagers were the Cossacks. Their large manufacturing shop was emptied. Many years passed before they returned to their economic strength.

Nevertheless, signs of anger never appeared on his face.

The most difficult day for Reb Moshe was Monday, the market day, when the town filled up with villagers, merchants, and customers from the near and far areas. All the Przytyk Jews, including Reb Moshe, waited for the market day, from which they hoped to earn their livelihood for the entire week…

The income tax office of Przytyk was 19 kilometers from the town, in Radom, but its long arm reached here as well, especially toward the Jewish population. An entire group of officials and confiscators worked intensively to further embitter the already bitter lives of the Jews, and to impoverish the Jews of Przytyk, who were otherwise poor. The Grabski politics^[4] toward our Jewish brethren operated with full strength in Przytyk. The income tax officials would come to Przytyk every Monday, visit the Jews at every stall or shop, and demand money. As the Soltis, Reb Moshe had to accompany the officials and witness with his own eyes the battle that was conducted against every Jew with open anti-Semitism. He calmed the winds to the extent that he could. Mainly, through his children, he would inform people from the outset regarding the future visit of the officials.

If the market day was a day of joy and hope for a good financial return for someone, for Reb

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Moshe it was a day of gloom and heart palpitations. He was forced to be a witness to the brutal behavior when they confiscated the remaining merchandise of the Jews.

Even now, it is difficult for me to understand from where Reb Moshe drew this strength and fortitude for such a difficult role. When he succeeded on occasion in averting the harshness of the decree or helping a Jew in his difficulty – a happy smile of satisfaction came over his face.

He bore his difficulties, and the difficulties of other Jews, quietly and with honor. The town always spoke of the dedication of Reb Moshe.

May his memory be blessed!

He was short, and constantly immersed in his thoughts of matters of the upper worlds. Danla was not so particular about his clothing, even though he had the means to dress nicely. He was miserly, and immersed in thought. He loved to philosophize. His words of reasoning displayed the sharpness of his mind in a very clear fashion. He invented complex mathematical problems, brought them to Polish intelligentsia of Przytyk, delved into them, debated – and always came out victorious. This did not prevent him from delving deeply into Talmud, studying a page of Gemara, and being a religious Jew.

Jews as well as Poles in the town took account of Danla's advice and benefited from his wisdom. They related to his words with complete seriousness.

His business was with lumber. As usual in that business, the greatest earning was from “cutting down” at a large scale… However, nobody doubted the character and honesty of Danla. Therefore, he had customers who trusted him to not cheat them.

When he took a loan from someone, he would give documents, even though everyone had full trust in him, and nobody asked for a pledge. However, Reb Danla would explain that one does not know what is liable to happen, and that nobody must suffer for doing him a favor…

Reb Danla was a very honored and desired arbitrator in the city. He would decide the most difficult and complex matters, even arbitration regarding matters of inheritance, to the satisfaction of all sides.

He was an enthusiastic chess player, and he knew the theory of the game very well. He was also dedicated to calendrical research, and to the comparison of the Hebrew calendar with those of other religions.

His heart and hands were also open to everyone. He had an uncanny ability to refrain from giving instructions to anyone, including his children – he let each person go in their own path.

He perished at the hands of the Nazi murderers along with his entire large family.

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The Twins – the Zionist and the Communist

They were two brothers, Yaakov Yehuda, may he live, nicknamed Yankel, and Aryeh of blessed memory, who was nicknamed Leibush. Their age difference was a half hour. They were both raised and educated together by their dedicated parents. They went to cheder together. They absorbed the aleph beit together. They tasted the taste of the same “konczik” (strap). Their mother always ensured that they would both have the same clothes. On festivals, she dressed both of them with new clothes and new shoes, and a strange eye could not tell the difference between the two of them. They were so similar to each other, not just in the face and body build, but also in their entire external appearance. They loved each other deeply.

At the age of 10 or 11, Yankel traveled to the Yeshiva of Siedlce, so that he would not have to study in the Polish school and sit bareheaded opposite the image of Jesus of Nazareth. He got sick there, returned home, and continued his studies in the Beis Midrash, until the time of the joint Bar Mitzvah celebration of both brothers. That was a lovely celebration. The worshippers were treated with liquor and cake after the services, and many blessings and good wishes were given.

A few years passed. The children became lads. Both had pure souls and sublime aspirations to idealism. However, when they began to look at their surroundings, when they stumbled over the issues of the world, their paths began to separate, without affecting their mutual love. Each saw the justice, the redemption from the falsehood pervading in the world, in their different paths.

The levelheaded, quiet Yankel, diligent in his studies, a Jew in all the strands of his soul, dreamed of the redemption of the nation, of the return to Zion. Aside from his Torah studies, he immersed himself fully into researching the splendid past of the Nation of Israel. He “swallowed” books of prose and poetry. The Jewish history of Dr. Graetz^[5] served as the background for understanding his nation and its problems. He was already counting the moments until he would merit to receive an aliya document (certificate in the vernacular) to the Land of Israel. There were delays, evasive responses, and there was no certificate.

During the time of waiting for the papers of redemption, his soul burst forth in song. With his mournful voice, he sang songs of Zion in Hebrew and Yiddish, songs of longing for his Land, the desired native land. He was moved to tears as, through his splendid songs, he sought comfort for his soul that was dreaming of manual labor in his homeland…

Leibish was a completely different type. While Yankel was dreaming of the redemption of the Nation of Israel in its land, Leibish began to weave dreams of the redemption of humanity in its entirety, with an end to the injustice pervading in the world. Leibish also left the home to go to Warsaw, ostensibly to study Torah. However,

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not many days passed until he studied the doctrine of Communism. He had come into contact with the family of Yosef Dazi, who had moved to Warsaw from Przytyk and become very active in the clandestine Communist movement.

Yosef Dazi participated in publishing a Communist newspaper in Yiddish, and became chairman of the organization for the settling of Jews in Birobidzhan^[6]. The organization was called Ogroid. He was active amongst the Jewish and Polish youth. He returned to Przytyk with his wife at the outbreak of the war. From there, they smuggled him to Paris, but the Nazi enemy also found him in Paris, where he perished along with his wife and children.

In 1934, Leibish returned to Przytyk from Warsaw. He was already an avowed Communist. He gave the impression that he thoroughly upheld the Communist underground. On rare occasion, in the company of his family and those closest to him, he spoke about Russian Socialism, with its intention to build a new world, a world without enslavers and slaves. He mocked the Zionist idea as an idea that is impossible to realize.

Then, sharp disputes broke out between the two brothers. Words were not lacking on each side, and it is superfluous to repeat the claims and reasons.

Despite the differences in opinion and outlook, the soulful bond between the two brothers did not weaken. The mutual love was strong and deep. The time came for an end to words and debates. Life with all its events and atrocities took the place of words and feelings.

It was August 5, 1934. The town was almost empty. The parents were in Radom, for it was a day of a fair.

Suddenly I saw Leibish running from the lawn while he still had his breath. He was breathing and puffing heavily, and he uttered the words to me, “I have to flee!”… I immediately seated him in the bus that was setting out to Łódź at that moment, and I quickly succeeded in slipping him several zlotys for the journey to an unknown destination…

That moment, a girl named Beila came running quickly. She was the grandson of Yosel the hatmaker, who lived opposite us. With her last energy, she informed us that they arrested Yankel instead of Leibish…

The parents returned from the fair in Radom and found “a fair,” destruction in their home. The two twins for whom they were so blessed during their childhood had now given them to drink bitterness. One left his nation, its Torah, and its hopes and followed ideas in strange fields: rather than concerning himself with the redemption of Israel, he dedicated himself the redemption of humanity in its entirety, and became a Communist. The second one, who was observant, loved his nation and its Land, was active in the religious Zionist movement, was arrested by the police out of suspicion of Communism. He was arrested instead of his brother, who had left on an unknown journey in order to evade the talons of the police…

The city was in ferment. The rabbi and Jewish leaders went to the police and attempted to explain

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to them their fateful error. They explained Yankel's nationalistic and even religious experiences. None of this helped, however, the amazing similarity of the twins, which was at times amusing, was now the cause of Yankel's trouble. The police investigators held their own: “We followed after him and know that he is a Communist. We know of many Communists, children of rabbis, who hide their Communist outlook and activities under the guise of holiness. We know that he dresses as a farmer, passes through the villages, organizes Communist cells, and arranges clandestine meetings in the forests. He turned the forests into a den of Communism. And now that he has fallen into our hands, you are trying to extricate him. No!”

I went along in the same truck that was taking Yankel and Berl Furszt to Radom. I managed to grab a few words with Yankel. He expressed his satisfaction that he was arrested rather than Leibish, for Leibish had suffered a great deal more and “I am happy that I will sit in his stead, and free him from troubles…”

From left, Eli Najman and Hershel Honig		Leibish Honig of blessed memory

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At that time, our family moved to Łódź,and he lived with me. Thus did the time pass until the Second World War broke out. On August 28, 1939, I accompanied him to the train leaving for Radom, where he was going to enlist in the army, for Poland declared a general draft.

I parted from Leibish with great emotion. Making great efforts not to shed tears, Leibish called me and said, “Mendel, I am enlisting in the army. A world war is starting. This will be a cruel war – a war between Communism and Fascism, between Capitalism and Socialism. I believe in perfect faith that Communism will win, and that Socialism will rule the world order. There will be no more wars. A new world will arise. No longer will there be oppressors and oppressed. There will no longer be nationalism or religion. There will be no borders between countries. Freedom, equality. The individual will be concerned for the public, and the public will be concerned for the individual. It will be a world that is all good!…”

Thus dreamt and spoke dear Leibish, believing in the victory of good over evil… he did not live long enough to be pained over the bitter disappointment in his faith. He fell into a prison of the Nazis, was sent to a camp ,and perished there…

… And Yaakov Yehuda, i.e. Yankel, was finally acquitted in his trial, for the judges doubted the veracity of the accusation that he was a Communist.

After great efforts, and with the help of my cousin Reb Yitzchak Rosenberg who was the general secretary of Mizrachi in the Warsaw headquarters, he finally received the certificate. After I held discussions several times with Rabbi Nisenbaum and Reb Levi Yitzchak Yungster, he was permitted to make aliya to the Land.

He succeeded in establishing a blessed family in Israel. His two sons served in the Israel Defense forces, and he also merited in seeing grandchildren.

The image of Reb Kadisz, the appearance of his face, his manner of walking, and his entire essence are etched in my memory. I imagine that I see him running, with a pencil and paper in his hand, immersed in his thoughts, in the world of imagination, imbued with faith and aspiration for fulfilment of the soul.

He was tall and thin, with a sharp, medium-length beard, golden hair, high eyebrows covering his eyes somewhat, and gaping, blue eyes. He was all bones, with dry hands. His face and forehead were skin and veins. For is a body not dust and ashes? The proof, he said, was that if you rub your hands together, they will produce black mud. So why does one need flesh and blood – flesh to the body is to feed the worms after a person's death.

The hair of his peyos and especially of his beard was matted, as if woven. A comb never touched them. A razor or scissors – must not be mentioned. All of his hair grew naturally. For according to the holy Ar'i^[7]

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the hairs of the beard are fully holy, and it is forbidden for a holy object to be shown externally. Therefore, if they fall out or are plucked out, they must be hidden in a holy book for safekeeping.

The Title page of the book of Yoetz Kim Kadisz of blessed memory (Note: the title of the book is Siach Sarfei Kodesh)

He wore a long kapote, and a greasy, silk gartel that never left his body. His shirt collar was open in the summer and winter. Long tzitzit stuck out from under his coat. This is how he explained his style of dress: these secular “gentiles,” may the Merciful One protect us, wear ties that separate between the mouth and the heart – that is, what is in the mouth is not in the heart, and one cannot trust the veracity of their words. On the other hand, Hassidim like us separate between two parts. The upper part is the head that lays tefillin, the mouth and eyes that delve into Torah, and the heart that feels “and you shall love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and soul.” Awe and love are blended and receive commands from the upper portion of the body.

The lower portion of the body, from the belly and below, was created to serve the upper portion and to enable it to perform commandments and good deeds. We are commanded to differentiate between the holy and mundane, to make a boundary, to set limits. Therefore, we wear a gartel, to separate between the two parts.

His gait was always quick. He stuck his hands in his gartel or held one hand over his eyes. His head was always bent down to prevent sins lurking on the routes, such as a woman along the way who might bring him

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to evil thoughts “It is best to follow after a lion and not after a woman.” When one follows a lion, one remembers G-d and prays to Heaven – after a woman, may it not happen to us, evil thoughts come.

Kadisz lived in a small room with his four children, one of whom was sick with tuberculosis. The light of the sun barely reached that room. Twenty broken or shaky stairs led up to the dwelling, and the constant danger of falling off the stairs was present, especially during the winter when they were covered with ice. This room was also gloomy. There was an earthenware flask with oil and a wick on the table in the middle of the room. He was always learning and writing until a late hour at night to that weak, flickering light. They also had a kerosene lamp, but they would only use it on special occasions.

Reb Yitzchak Meir Langer was a wealthy Jew who owned an estate. He lived in the village of Klwów near Przytyk. He invited Reb Kadisz to his home to serve as a teacher of his children. Reb Avraham Mauer, an elderly Jew, also came to that village on occasion to purchase rags from the villagers and sell them various haberdashery items. Avraham Mauer had once been in the land of Israel, and he brought back a sack of earth from the Mount of Olives. He knew how to tell about signs and portents, and the wonderful stories that he heard from the Hassidim of Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Przysucha, the rabbis of Kock, Aleksander, and Gur, and especially the grandchildren of the Holy Jew^[8]. The teacher Kadisz believed the words of Avraham Mauer with perfect faith, and every time that he came to the village for his business, he took a pencil and paper with him, and would write down all his words.

The Langer family Yitzchak Meir, who died in Przytyk in 1937, Rivka, who died in a camp near Szydłowiec, Yisrael of blessed memory

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He gathered all the material and corresponded with various people to verify the veracity of the things given over to him. Then he published his first book in terse Yiddish, called Siach Sarfei Kodesh.

Having a creative imagination, he also loved to tell stories to his students, and he imbued them with the cloak of faith. He told his students that the red color of the sky at the time of sunset is the color of Gehinnom [Hell]. The wicked people gather wood, light it, and are burned in the fire. This is repeated daily throughout the entire time that the wicked person is sentenced to Gehinnom.

When Reb Yitzchak Meir moved to Przytyk, Kadisz the teacher also went to him. He was immersed in his holy work, day and night. One could see him through the window bent over his table to the flickering light of the candelabra, writing and authoring his books on Rebbes and their Hassidim. At that time, he maintained correspondence with all the rabbis in Poland and outside of it. I recall that I once translated a portion of his book into Yiddish.

Three books with six parts were published in Israel with the name “Siach Sarfei Kodesh, Which is the Language of Hassidim.” These books include a large collection of sayings, Torah novella in Midrash and Talmud, and commentaries on liturgical poetry and prayers. In addition, they contain wonderful stories, including about miraculous deeds of Rebbes. The books also include legends that were transmitted from generation to generation, starting with the first era of Hassidism during the time of the Baal Shem Tov until the 1930s. These books are found in the library of Bar Ilan University in Israel, and they serve as a trustworthy, known source of Hassidism and its founders. The professors and docents use them and cite them in their lectures.

I permit myself to cite one of the tens of letters of thanks that were sent to the author of the book, proving the importance of the book and the author himself, in this language: “With the help of Heaven, shalom shalom doubled, and years of life from the uppermost heavens, in honor of my dear friend and beloved rabbi, of great deeds, a scion of great, upright ones, the crown of the name of the Torah, Rabbi Yoetz Kim Kadisz, of the Rakac family, may G-d protect him and keep him, who published wonderful, holy books, a Jew of the city of Przytyk, may the city be built, amen.”

A significant portion of his stories are dedicated to the nullification of individual essence. The Master of the Worlds brings upon us, in his great mercy, tribulations that purge the sins of a person. A person is dutybound to nullify his physical essence, to suffer personal disgrace, and to be prepared to accept tribulations for the holy purpose: serve G-d with joy.

Indeed, he fulfilled all this himself – he lived in poverty and lack. He dressed slovenly He wore patched boots that were tarred only once a week to soften and beautify them in honor of the Sabbath. He personally fulfilled that which is written, “eat bread dipped in salt, drink water in measure, sleep on the ground, and toil in Torah.”^[9]

He is no more. He perished in the Holocaust. His name and his books will remain forever.

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Reb Leibush Rozencwajg

Reb Leibush was born in Radom and married the daughter of Reb Yitzchak Meir Lange of blessed memory. He lived in a dwelling set up for him by his father-in-law. He also received his livelihood from his father-in-law. His wife Chanala was very dedicated to her husband. They lived like a pair of doves.

Reb Leibush was always closed into himself, and spoke very little to people. He had a sharp mind and clear way of thinking. He delved deeply into the Talmud and halachic decisors. Secular books also never left his hand. He delved deeply into technical books in the Polish language, especially those dealing with electronics and mathematics.

He was the technical manager of his father-in-law's mill. The machines and the dam were under his supervision. Even later, when they set up an electric station in Przytyk and the machines were driven by a generator that provided electricity to the entire city and the nearby villages, everything was run under his supervision.

He knew how to operate the machines and the transmitters, and also how to replace replaceable parts. This was a wonderful innovation, that a Jew who did not study engineering or other technical subjects was able to run a power-driven mill through self-study.

He also occupied himself in communal affairs. He was the chairman of the Hapoel Hamizrachi party. He conducted matters in accordance with his ways, and the members respected him greatly.

As was told, he was deported by the Germans to the Radom Ghetto along with the Jews of Przytyk. Even in the ghetto, he did not stop studying and researching. He began to search for synthetic material to produce textiles for sheets and pillows. He made contact with people outside the ghetto, and operated his invention through very meager means.

The issue of his invention reached the upper command of the Nazis, and they searched him to take advantage of it. However, they were too late. He had been taken out to be killed a few days earlier. May his memory be a blessing.

Reb Yosef Meir Frajdman of blessed memory

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the Jews were permitted to own estates. To be an estate owner, one had to excel in service to the state. I recall three Jews in Przytyk and the area who were able to do so, one of them being Reb Yosef-Meir, whose estates were bequeathed to him as an inheritance from his ancestors.

His houses in the broad courtyard were built in the shape of a ח. Those in the back section of the courtyard were two stories, and those closer to the front were one story. There was a ditch in the middle of the courtyard for the sewage.

About sixteen families lived in those houses, paying rent to Reb Yosef Meir. Not every resident was able to pay rent, and he had to forgo these obligations on occasion. Reb Yosef-Meir had a residence of several rooms on the right side of the courtyard, as well as the storehouse in which he gathered the grain that was purchased from the farmers who brought their produce to town to sell.

According to my memory, Reb Hirsch-Leib Ajdelbaum the butcher lived in that courtyard. He was a goodhearted Jew, a great philanthropist. He disbursed a great deal of money to the poor of the city. During the years following the First World War, he did a great deal for the absorption of Jewish refugees from Lithuania and other places who came to settle in the town.

Reb Yosef-Meir's wife died suddenly during the 1920s from the typhus epidemic that spread through the city and felled may victims. She died at the time of the Sabbath candle-lighting, leaving seven children behind. The oldest daughter Sara got married and bore two children. Her husband was an enthusiastic Zionist – one of the organizers of the General Zionists. The second daughter Shprintza married Chaim (?). He had three other daughters, Feigela, Rivka, and Breindel, and two sons who are in Israel today.

Reb Yosef-Meir continued to run the house after the death of his wife, and did not spare anything for giving his children a good education. He was a good merchant, and he trained his two sons in commerce. They also became fine businessmen, who earned their livelihoods with honor.

The eldest son of Reb Yosef-Meir, Chaim Frajdman, today in Israel, helped his father in business. Along with this, he dedicated himself to work in the General Zionist party, and was a member of its leadership. The primary task of this party was to collect money for the Jewish National Fund. Chaim did not pass over any Jew in the city who was able to donate. He would canvass people at any event: a wedding, circumcision, a party with friends, or a regular gathering. Since he was accepted and honored by the gentiles of the city as well, he would also ask them for donations, and they gave generously. It was said of him that one Sunday as the gentiles were going to worship in church, he canvassed them. He also approached the city pharmacist, who with his wife, to ask for a donation. He acceded and gave a significant donation.

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Once, things came to a clash between us. I reproved him for preventing Jews from donating to Rabbi Meir Baal Haness^[10], which is a mitzva, and supporting pioneers who were far from the Jewish religion. Rabbi Yeshayahu Taub, a member of Agudas Yisroel, a city administrator, issued a proclamation for all our Jewish brethren, telling them to stop the donations to the Jewish National Fund, for that money was collected for the male and female pioneers who desecrate the Holy Land, do not observe the Sabbath in accordance with the command of G-d, and go about bareheaded with girls in our Holy Land.

Chaim did what he felt necessary. He continued with his activities that he regarded as holy, with a sublime purpose. He had many years of successful activity. He doubled and tripled his commitments to collect.

He finally decided to actualize his dream and go see this Holy Land with his own eyes. He turned to the Land of Israel Office (Palestina Amt) as well as to his party and asked them to send him to the Land. However, he met with refusal. He was pushed off time after time for various reasons. His father also opposed his aliya and claimed, “How can you leave me with six orphans. I need to sustain them, and I am a sick man.”

Chaim did not give up, and he aspired to realize his dream. His father brought him to arbitration with two people: his brother-in-law Yosef Frajdman and Reb Chaim Berliner. Since both of them had feelings toward the issue of the Land of Israel, they issued a verdict that he has a share in his father's inheritance, and his father is obligated to cover his expenses for the journey to the Palestine. Nevertheless, his father excluded him from his property. He was willing to give him a proper sum of money only if he would get married and live in Poland. The influence of Agudas Yisrael overcame him and had its effect. Therefore Chaim was forced to ask for help from his friends, who financed his aliya to the Land. He later sent a sack of sand from the Holy Land to the arbitrator Berliner, in accordance with his request – as a portent to not suffer from rolling through the tunnels during the time of the Messiah.

Chaim's Polish friend, Wycek Pitlowski, who owned a transport truck, organized a farewell trip to the district city of Radom. The vehicle was decorated with many blue and white flags. His friends accompanied him with joy and song, and parted from him.

When he arrived in the Land, he met Przytykers who had arrived in the Land as Communists, and attempted to convince him to return to Poland. They told him, “What were you missing there in Przytyk? What made you come here to die from hunger or malaria? Go back!”

He endured very difficult times, with backbreaking work on the roads and in the orchards, and many periods of unemployment in which he was hungry for bread. He married a woman from Poland who arrived in the Land as a child with her parents.

His mother died when he was nine years old. From then, he was missing the soft, delicate hand of the mother who caressed him. The indulgence that he was used to was taken from him. His father was busy with his business. His sisters and brothers cared for him to the best of their ability.

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Yitzchak grew up, studied, and later served in the Polish Army. He established and organized the youth into a Beitar chapter. He led the youth and imbued them with a love of the homeland in the spirit of Trumpeldor and Jabotinsky. He organized hikes and marches outside Przytyk as well as in the forests and fields of the area. He imbued the youth of the town with a spirit of life, and directed the path upon which they would go. There were those in the town who looked upon this organization with mockery and disdain. He did not pay attention to this, and did what he had to. Many of his charges survived and made aliya after the Second World War. They currently live in Israel.

As anti-Semitism increased in Poland in 1936, he was among the heads of the Jewish defenders of the city. On March 9, 1936, he was among those who stood at the head, fighting with bravery. He was arrested and sentenced to prison. He was accused of serious crimes, and was liable to a sentence of life imprisonment. The best lawyers defended him, and he was sentenced to five years of prison. He was freed and made aliya to the Land in the middle of 1938, after spending close to two years in prison.

He worked at backbreaking labor in the Land. He went hungry on occasion, but was always happy to be among the builders of the homeland. The Second World War broke out shortly thereafter, and, with the Holocaust in Europe, contact was severed with his family as well as with the youth. He enlisted in a British brigade, and fell prisoner to the Germans in Greece in 1941. He again endured several years of suffering and torture at the hands of the Nazis. It is difficult to describe what he endured in this terrible imprisonment. The wounds did not heal. Fate was endlessly cruel to him. He returned to the Land broken and shaken, hoping for a bit of rest, but then the War of Independence broke out.

After all the tribulations, he returned to civilian life. Then, the struggle for existence began. He rejected the simple life, and took upon himself a life of work. He got married, and raised two sons and one daughter. He dedicated his best efforts on their behalf, and sustained them in honor.

The son of Chaim and Tzipora. He was born on 17 Shvat 5708 (January 28, 1948) in Tel Aviv.

He obtained his elementary education in the Yehuda Maccabee School. Then he studied in the Amal professional high school that was there. He belonged to the Beitar movement and was an active basketball player. He played in the ranks of the youth groups. When he got older, he played in the adult Beitar team in Tel Aviv. He was also active in other arenas in that movement – especially among the sailors.

He was an alert child, calm in temperament and full of joy of life. He liked to help his friends. He knew how to find a good solution for all involved for any problem that was presented to him.

In November 1965, he was drafted to the Israel Defense Forces, and he volunteered for the navy. He chose the profession of underwater acoustics. Aside from a good sense of hearing, this profession demanded a high intellect and the ability to analyze the issues at hand. Yosef stood up to those demands and succeeded. He earned recognition from his commanders for this.

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During the Six Day War, he served in the Tannin, a submarine whose mission was to operate near the enemy coastlines. He was an expert diver, quiet and modest. Therefore, he was sent to England to join the crew of the Dakar submarine^[11]. Connection was lost with the submarine as it was underwater between Gibraltar and its home port of Haifa. This took place on the 24th of Tevet, 5728 (January 25, 1968).

The chief military rabbinate set the date of Yosef's death, in the line of duty along with the others, on the 29^th of Tevet 5728 (January 30, 1968). Since Yosef was among the crew members who went missing, they erected a memorial stone for him in the monument in memory of the crew of the Dakar in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

His picture is included in the book “Six Days on the Dakar” by Eran Shorer.

Yosef Shalev (Frajdman), second from right, with the crew of the Dakar submarine

Reb Shmuel David had a unique appearance in our city. He was tall and thin, with an upright posture. His clothes were always clean with no stain. His boots were polished. His youth was spent properly. He had a patrician image.

On rare occasion, he would be seen strolling on the streets or engaged in a friendly conversation. Partaking of a purposeless conversation was a rare occurrence with him.

When he would pass through the street on the wooden sidewalk, with a nickel cane in his hand, he would walk leisurely. His footsteps, like his words, were measured.

He exuded honor and splendor. He spoke little, and when a few words came out of his mouth in the company of people, everyone would listen attentively so as not to even miss a half word of what he said.

He was a teacher by profession – not of children, but rather of older lads. Only lads who already knew how to learn a page of Gemara were accepted as his students. This was after he gave them an exacting examination.

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He did not accept many students, only as many needed for his livelihood. He did not talk about tuition, and nobody would discuss prices with him.

Through his study, he loved to come up with new ideas and to engage in didactics. The students were afraid of him. However, this was not the usual fear of teachers, the fear of the “konczik” (strap), but rather respect and awe for this unique personality.

He had a pleasant voice, and he would serve as a prayer leader on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. His strong, booming voice simultaneously expressed pleading and arousal to repentance and prayers. Those who went to the Beit Midrash were influenced by his melodies, which were simultaneously powerful, soft, and delicate. The arousal was general, and thrust the worshippers upward, and upward… Those who worshipped in his presence would leave full of hope and complete faith that their prayers were accepted.

My father, Reb Yoel of blessed memory, named my young brother Shmuel David after him. My brother Shmuel David was murdered by the Nazis, may their names be erased. His son, Reb Meir, died at a young age.

Y. Meizels in the play “King Lear”		Meir Meizels of blessed memory

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which was always prepared to help those in need. The poverty, crowding, and lack of means to confront the anti-Semitism afflicted him, and pushed him to search for a remedy in Socialism.

Shmuel-David had two sons: Meir immigrated to the United States and was one of the activists in the Organization of Przytyk Natives. He died in 1963. The son, Yosef Meizels, had inclinations to act in the drama club of Przytyk. He especially excelled in his role in King Lear.

He finally emigrated from the city, traveled afar, and reached the United States. There too, his house, heart, and pocket were open to those in need.

Our townsfolk told me that the place where one could receive a warm reception as well as actual assistance was the home of Reb Meir, who worked greatly in communal affairs in the United States.

Reb Itchele Opoczener, a Gemara teacher, did not have a quick grasp, but he was very meticulous with his studies. He studied day and night, reviewing, learning, and preparing for the lessons that he gave to his students. His son-in-law David Lerner owned an iron implements store, and had two children, Moshe and Rivka. Nearby lived a teacher who was called “Der Heimlozer” [the homeless], a refugee from the First World War. This teacher had a son Yona and two daughters, Gitel and Nechama. They all knew how to write and speak Hebrew in accordance with grammatical principles. They brought to town the Hebrew language with a definitive Ashkenazic pronunciation.

The shochet Reb Yosef-Chaim Weiser had a very large family (about 12 children), and lived in two large rooms on the first floor of a house on the road the faces the bridge toward Warsaw. Reb Yosef-Chaim was an honorable Jew, a scholar, who sat and learned Talmud and halachic decisors at home, in the Beis Midrash, and also at Talmud classes. The butchers honored him, and when he found swollen lungs or some sort of lesion in a slaughtered animal, and expressed a doubt regarding kashrut, they did not dare to contradict him.

He educated his children in the spirit of Torah and religion. One son, Simcha, who was my age, excelled in the sharpness of his intellect and in his wonderful memory. He was sent to a Yeshiva in Warsaw at the age of 12. I sat next to him on the trip to Warsaw with his father, and he talked words of Torah the entire time. As he entered Warsaw, he suddenly began to speak unclear words. His mind stumbled, and he was not accepted to the Yeshiva. From that point, he continued his studies at home. As I was told, he perished at the hands of the Nazis.

Reb Yaakov Cuker the shochet lived not far from his fellow tradesman. He was an honorable Jew, wise and intelligent, tall, and always clean and tidy. No crease was found on his clothing. The butchers with whom he came into contact related to him with awe and honor. His home was wonderfully clean and tidy, despite the difficulties

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in fetching water for the home from such a great distance. His son, Moshe Cuker, made aliya at the end of the 1920s. He worked at various jobs with the railway and roadways. He left the Land during the 1930s and moved to France. Today, he is quite old and lives in Paris.

The daughter, Tzetel, married Tzvi Zalcszirer. Yisrael Avraham Szwicki, my classmate, a very religious person, fell in love with their daughter Bracha, an intelligent a beautiful girl. He gave me a letter to give over to her via her friend Dvora Zalcszirer. I was quite reluctant to fulfil the request, for I regarded it as sinful for a religious boy to write letters to a girl. At the end, I did give over the letter.

Bracha later fell in love with Itza Bande, who was a merchant who brought eggs to Warsaw. Her parents were opposed to this, for the lad was not sufficiently religious. Disputes often broke out between the daughter and her parents. In the end, love won out, and they got married. I still remember their young son Izak, who was very talented and dedicated to his studies.

They also called him Tzitzimacher, a maker of tzitzit [ritual fringes]. He wove woolen threads and made tzitzit that were famous throughout Poland. He was a G-d fearing Jew, and there was a presumption that there was no issue with his products, and that they were not intermixed, Heaven forbid, with threads of flax^[12]. He also made black cotton, which he manufacturer from old rags that went through various stages of production.

There were two brothers in our city, Moshe and Shalom Haberberg, who were merchants of cattle. Every Sunday, after the Sabbath rest, they arose very early in the morning and loaded various objects into a sack: their tallis and tefillin, warm clothing, home-baked bread, and rope to tie the cattle. With sticks in their hands and sacks on their shoulders, they went out to the villages to purchase cattle for slaughter from the farmers. This was very difficult, backbreaking work to go by foot for tens of kilometers until they succeeded in purchasing some sort of animal and leading it back to the city to sell to the butchers. Their tanned and very wrinkled faces, from rain and frost, testified to their hard work to sustain their families, so that they would not need to depend on others. On weeks when their earnings were larger, they would give over something to the needy. Their younger brother ,Yaakov Haberberg, who knew arithmetic and also how to write, earned his livelihood in commerce.

In the center of the market, opposite the water well, at the entrance – I am unsure whether to the gate of the house or to a narrow alleyway – lived the Stark family, Avraham Sztrikmacher, the Bresztil family, and the Zacholc family.

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Reb Yitzchak-Yaakov Bresztil married the daughter of Avraham Sztrikmacher, a wealthy Jew from the city of Zwoleń. He was tall, with golden hair and a short beard. He was a successful merchant in the hide sector. He entered a partnership with Reb Pinchas the tailor who had lots of cash. Reb Yitzchak Yaakov imported and exported merchandise, and Reb Pinchas continued working in the tailoring trade. He was a goodhearted man, who responded positively to anyone who asked for his favor. When my father of blessed memory required help and turned to him, he said to him, “Yoel enter, open up the drawer and take what you need.” It was obvious that this was mutual.

They educated their children in the spirit of religion and tradition. They did not spare money in paying for good teachers. Along with this, they made sure to have their children learn a profession. The study of Torah alone was not sufficient. He had a good idea, which was a definitive novelty in town. Reb Yitzchak-Yaakov took Yisrael Hofman as a partner, and they forged a partnership in flax textiles. They purchased several looms and hired tradesmen to teach the children the weaving trade. There were two weavers in town, but their work was very primitive. They used wooden weaving “chairs,” wound the woof and warp, and created simple, cheap textiles. The expenditure of money to purchase elaborate machines and to teach this trade was dangerous, but it paid off. Nechemia and Shmuel, who made aliya prior to the Second World War, worked at that trade, and earned honorable livelihoods. The third son, Menashe, who survived and made aliya after the war, also worked at this trade.

Reb Yitzchak-Yaakov fled from honor. They begged him to accept the task of city parnas [administrator], but he refused, saying that this is a matter for those who pursue honor. On the other hand, he loved to settle disputes and to promote peace among two disputants. It was always possible to get good advice from this Jew, who was wise and intelligent.

Reb Yitzchak-Yaakov his wife, and their six other children perished.

Among the most prominent personalities in our town was Chaim-Aharon, the chairman of the General Zionist organization. He was of average height, bald despite his young age, and had a wide mouth, as if it was created specially to lecture and to conduct publicity.

He was an avowed bachelor. It was said that he was married to the organization. He was fully immersed in the organizational work of the General Zionists. His meager livelihood came from purchasing and selling non-hydrated plaster. He lived on a narrow alleyway, into which it was barely possible to bring a wagon hitched to a horse. There was a sewage conduit in the middle of the alleyway. Water for the houses was fetched in pails

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from the well. There was a pig market next to the alleyway, where the farmers brought their pigs for sale every Monday.

He lived with his mother and sister in one tiny room at the edge of this alleyway. There was a wagon laden with plaster for sale standing in front of the house. Late at night, after tiring meetings, he would sit in this small room, writing, reading , and preparing speeches. He always knew how to answer questions, to arouse the interest of his audience, and to attack and criticize the opponents of his party. His favorite topic, always on his lips, was the Land of Israel, its pioneers and builders.

He did not merit to actualize his dream. He perished in the Holocaust.

In contrast with the rest of the sons of Reb Moshe Einbinder of blessed memory, who excelled with their diligence in hand labor, some in sewing, and some in helping their parents in bookbinding, the heart of his son Chaim was attracted to studying and reading. He learned in Yeshivas, at first delved into religious books, but eventually peering into and becoming affected by secular books.

He began to study secular books. He was especially interested in books dealing with society life and Socialist doctrine. He then began to denigrate the commandments that went against the spirit of the times. He also influenced those around him in that direction. He debated and brought proofs from the doctrine of historical materialism and attacked clericalism. Along with this, he was full of the joy of life. He loved to tell jokes and mock the Orthodox for their religious zeal.

I was once summoned to him because he began to vomit, and blood flowed from his throat. The medic arrived, stemmed the vomiting of blood, and ordered him to eat pig fat, to lie down for several days and not speak. Chaim remembered this incident for a long time, and used to say: “Imagine for yourselves, the Angel of Death came to me and forbade me from speaking. This was as if he removed my soul from me. I fought valiantly against him and was victorious.”

In contrast to his distancing himself from religion, he was attracted with an inner drive toward the Hassidic groups, to hear their novel Torah ideas, to visit Rebbes, to research their conduct, and to later tell about the miracles that he saw and heard. Among the rabbis who came to Radom was one who was called the Koznicer Rebbe. The apostates said that he was not of sound mind, but the Hassidim believed that his deeds were directed straight toward Heaven, and all of his words were the words of the Living G-d.

Chaim told me about Yehoshuale the tailor who lived in a single room, with a dark anteroom, with six children in a house behind the synagogue. He earned his meager bread for his family with difficulty. In addition, his wife was sick with a malignant disease. Yehoshuale was a quiet man. Even though he

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was immersed in great despair because he did not have money for a doctor and did not have anyone to care for his young children, he did not complain, but rather bore his suffering in silence. Reb Yehoshuale was advised to travel to the Koznitz Rebbe. He stood at the door of the Rebbe and waited impatiently until he was able to come in to the Rebbe an pour out the bitterness of his heart to him.

At the conclusion of the Sabbath, after Havdalah and the singing of the hymns, the Rebbe began to dance a Hassidic dance in his holy manner. During the dance, he drew close to several Hassidim, as well as Yehoshuale, and gave them several slaps on the face. A slap like that was considered honorable in the eyes of the Hassidim. According to them, it atones for all sins, for “suffering purges the sins of person.” Furthermore, this was from the Rebbe who still was in the prime of his strength. The Hassidim had to fetch a bit of water to Yehoshuale to recover from the blow, and they told him that he could already travel home, for G-d would help and everything would be fine. He returned home and found his wife dying, She died the next day. The poor woman was redeemed from her suffering and torment that she had suffered for months, and the neighbors and the husband were freed from having to care for her.

Once, Chaim returned from the Rebbe happy and with a joyous heart. He related that when they were sitting around the Rebbe's table at lunchtime, it was a hot day. The sun was burning, and the Hassidim were enjoying the remnants [shirayim] of the Rebbe^[13]. Suddenly the Rebbe turned to him asked for his name. He responded, “My name is Chaim.” Then the Rebbe shouted and said, “Chaim Ber, go and fetch me a pail of water quickly.” He hurried in a panic and brought water from the well. The Rebbe commanded to place the pail on the table. He turned to the Hassidim and said, “O, all who are thirsty, come to water^[14]. So, holy flock, drink water, for you must be thirsty.” From that time, they called him Chaim-Ber. He also told wondrous deeds of how the Rebbe saved the life of a person.

Chaim loved and enjoyed the Hassidic reality. He found in this satisfaction for his soul that longed somewhat for Hassidic spiritualism. He married the daughter of the rabbi of Włocławek. He raised a family and earned his livelihood with difficulty. He perished with his family along with the Jews of Włocławek. May their memories be a blessing.

Yitzchak Bande

Yitzchak Bande sustained his family through the egg trade. On Monday evenings, after the market closed, he would load the eggs that he purchased on a wagon hitched to two horses, and transport them to Warsaw for sale. The trip to Warsaw lasted for two nights and one day. He would return home on Friday before the Sabbath.

This was difficult, backbreaking work. He was always traveling along the roads – in the burning heat

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and the cold, in the rain and the wind, all this to sustain his family in an honorable fashion. Despite his hard work, however, he devoted his free time to Zionist work as a member of the General Zionists.

On a Monday in March 1936, the day of the disturbances, he left everything and bravely stood against the masses of rioters. He was arrested and sentenced to eight months of prison. The newspapers wrote the following in Yiddish, “A touching scene took place when Yitzchak Bande's wife came to him with their four-year-old child. The child fell into the arms of his father. It was a long time before they could remove the child from his father.”

The entire family perished in the Holocaust.

He was the son of parents who were observant of religion and tradition. His father was a great scholar. They said of him that he would sit and study Torah day and night with great toil and effort. He succeeded in publishing a book about the Sabbath. He died while still young.

His brother Mote Bornsztajn was sentenced to prison for Communist publicity and activity. He died in the infamous Wronki Prison^[15].

On the day of the disturbances, Yaakov stood on guard to protect the Jews of the town. He was imprisoned until the trial, and then freed. He is no longer alive.

He was a shoemaker by profession. He was married with no children. He dedicated most of his days to communal activity. He was observant of tradition. He knew how to forge good relationships in society, and was chosen as the parnas [administrator] of the city.

On the day of the disturbances, he acted to the best of his ability. He guarded the street on which he lived, and repelled the rioting crowd with physical force, with the help of several Jews from that street. A person was killed on that street by a shot not far from Leski's house.

He and his wife perished in the Holocaust.

He was the son of poor parents. His father, Moshe, lived in one room with five children on an alleyway leading to the pig market. His father worked in sewing pants and selling them on the market day. Raphael sat and studied, reading books until late at night to the light of a kerosene lamp. He was active in the Communist Party, and worked a great deal in disseminating the doctrine of Socialism amongst the youth.

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He participated in the battle against the rioters on the day of the disturbances, and repelled the rioting crowd in a brave stance, along with his friends. He was arrested and sentenced to eight months of prison.

His entire family perished during the time of the Holocaust.

His father, Moshe, was a tailor, and employed several workers. He was an honorable man in the city. He earned a good and comfortable livelihood. He was the father of three daughters and one son. The son studied in Yeshivas, was devoted to Torah study, and was active in the Young Mizrachi. He was short and thin, and wore glasses.

When he saw the masses of rioters through the window on the first floor, and realized what was transpiring outside, Yechiel fired a shot in the air. Around that time, a Pole was killed at a distance of 300 meters from his house. The prosecution along with the anti-Semitic newspapers accused him of the murder of that Pole, even though it was proven without any doubt that the bullet came from the opposite direction. Nevertheless, the judges acceded to the anti-Semitic politics that pervaded at that time, and issued a verdict that did not match the reality.

The Polish lawyer, Szimanski, defended him. When he saw that, in light of the anti-Semitic incitement, he had no other option than to accuse the Jew of murder, he used a Hebrew verse in court, “My G-d, my G-d, why did you abandon me?”^[16] These words made an impression, and Yechiel was sentenced to eight years of prison. These words also reverberated in newspapers around the world.

Yechiel's parents came to visit him, and his mother burst out crying. The son comforted them, saying, “I am better off sitting in prison for the crime of defending against the rioters than I would have been had I fallen into their hands.”

The entire family perished in the Holocaust.

Yaakov Kirszenzwajg

The first court in Radom

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sentenced him to five years of prison. The newspapers then gave over the following statement from those present in court: When one of the Polish lawyers, a veteran anti-Semite, interrogated the child of the murdered Minkowski, he tormented the child with questions such as: “Who told you about the trial?” “What did they tell you to say?” The child stood frightened and affected by what his eyes had seen during the time of murder, and burst out crying from emotion. Yaakov sat on the accused dock, and shouted out to the hall, “Stop torturing this orphan!” The judge sentenced him to three days of solitary confinement for this.

After discussions with his brother Eliezer, Eliezer took all the blame. Thus, the torture and prison sentence of one more head of family was averted.

Yaakov was freed in the second trial. He made aliya, built a house, established a family, and now lives in Israel.

He had been a member of Beitar. He was active in the defense on the day of the disturbances. He took all the blame upon himself, even that of his brother Yaakov. The court in Radom sentenced him to six years of prison. He sat in jail in Sieradz until September 1939. He was freed by the Germans when they entered the city, along with all the other prisoners.

He escaped to Łódź, and lived in my house for several days. Then he returned to Przytyk. His brother Shaul, who lives in Israel today, sent him to the city of Radom. Along the way, he was attacked by three Volksdeutschen who wanted to confiscate his bicycle. He fought with them, overcame them, and returned to Przytyk on his bicycle.

Eliezer then decided to not remain in Poland. He escaped to Russia and joined the partisans. He was active among them, and carried out all sorts of anti-German actions. He fell and was killed during an action against a train that was carrying Germans, and which had been successfully derailed.

He was one of the defenders of the Jews of Przytyk during the disturbances. He stood bravely on guard, and protected any defenseless person from any sort of attack. He was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison.

He was raised and educated in a traditional, Zionist home. His father, Yaakov, was a merchant of hides along with his children Yosef, Avraham, Moshe-Chaim and Mordechai. In 1941, they placed all their property in the home of a gentile neighbor, with whom they had lived together in friendship for many years.

In return for the merchandise that they had received, the neighbor promised them refuge in his cellar. After a short time

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the gentile, assisted by another Pole, murdered the entire family with gunshots – the parents along with the children.

May G-d avenge their blood!

At the end of the Warsaw Road, over the bridge, lived the smith Shaul Krangil. He was a wealthy Jew, who built two houses in the town. Beitar and Hapoel Hamizrachi were among his tenants.

Shaul was a powerful Jew with a first-class profession. He knew how to carry out all types of metalwork. He was active in Beitar.

During the disturbances, he participated in the defense of the city , and saved many defenseless Jewish families from death. He was sentenced to six month of prison for his transgressions.

He perished along with his family during the time of the Holocaust. May G-d avenge their blood!

His father, Fishel, died while Yaakov was still young. His mother, Ita-Beila, an energetic, strong-charactered woman, ran the bakery with the help of her daughters and son. The bakery supplied bread to a large portion of the city. The family earned an honorable livelihood from this. The children were educated in the spirit of Zionism. On account of this, their daughter Rachel made aliya to the Land already in 1935.

Yaakov-Leibush was a sportsman and one of the organizers of the Maccabee basketball team. He was a good goal keeper, and he trained the Jewish youth in these games. Yaakov received a permit to own a pistol, something very rare in those days. He was also active in the General Zionist movement.

Before the outbreak of the disturbances, he prepared the youth and trained them in defense. On the day of the disturbances, he played an active role in repelling the rioters. He was sentenced to eight months of prison, but he sat in prison for a longer period because the case was transferred to a higher court.

Yaakov-Leibish, his wife Rivka, two children, his sister Chava-Eidel, Chava-Eidel's husband Mordechai Przytycki and their five children perished at the hands of the Nazis. The sole survivor of this family is his sister Rachel, may she live long, who now lives in Israel.

He was a member of Beitar, and received a Zionist education. He was the son-in-law of the elderly Leizer Feldberg. His father was killed by Polish murderers.

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He was one of the organizers of the defense in the town, and one of the heads of the defense during the disturbances. Along with several other friends, he stormed the masses of rioters and repelled them. He was sentenced to eight months of prison. He perished along with his family at the hands of the Nazis. May his memory be a blessing.

In memory of my father Yoel, my mother Yenta, and their children who perished: Malka my eldest sister with her husband Moshe Pinczek and two children; my sister Rachela, and my brothers Hershel, Leibush, Shmuel-David, and Pesach. I was never able to receive any knowledge or hint about where or when they perished.

More than 30 years have passed, and their facial countenance still stands before my eyes. I remember well their way of life, their conduct, and their reactions to various events. It seems to me that they still appear before me, good hearted as they were, offering me their help and participating in my pain and suffering.

In this article, I wish to describe some of what is etched in my memory, and is demanding to be written on paper – the town and the house in which I was raised and educated; neighbors, relatives, and friends; the friends with whom we spent days and nights, exchanged ideas and thoughts – in difficulties and at joyous occasions.

I will try to present to the readers interested in such, who are connected to our city with thousands of strands – whatever I can, especially about my family members who are part of us. My father's household was one of hundreds such householders in the town. Our family life served then as the base of our social group. I will therefore also describe their aspirations, ideas, ways of life, holiness, and greatness of their deeds. May it be that their memory accompanies us also in future generations and encourages us to continue on their path. Most of them were murdered and are no more. Their memories and good deeds shall be perpetuated forever.

This is what our house looked like. It was a small house with an attic. One would go up to the attic via wooden stairs. The attic had one large room for the children. On the left side of the room, there was a small area designed for a sukkah, with a retractable roof so that one could lay down the sechach^[17]. The remaining area on both sides served as a storehouse for firewood and coal, potatoes, and small pears (lengalkes) to be dried for eating, as well as for prepared merchandise for sale.

There were two large rooms on the ground floor. The first served as a work room, in which four or five employees worked. Three or four sewing machines stood in a square formation next to the window. There was a table for cutting and ironing next to the door. This all occupied about half the room. In the other half, there was a clay furnace with a pipe to heat the house during the winter. Next to the furnace, there was a large oven in the wall used to bake bread for the entire week, challos for the Sabbath, and for the heating of food – especially for the Sabbath.

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In the second room, there was a tall, white oven, built of pottery, for heating in the winter. Not far from it was a bed. Over the bed, in the wall was the bookcase, containing primarily the five books of the Torah, The Mishna, the Talmud, Siddurim [prayer books] for all the children, Machzorim for the festivals, and the Korban Mincha Siddur with Yiddish translation for Mother. There was a large table in the middle of the room which served, according to need, for work or for customers who came to purchase ready-made clothing. There was also a clothes closet in this room, and two beds, separated by a window, one for Father and one for Mother. The children slept with the parents in one bed until the age of seven or eight, and the rest of the children slept upstairs in the room in the attic.

A special bed stood in the first room, separated by a partition, for an important guest who slept over, who was not taken to the anteroom of the Beis Midrash. Such guests would be preachers, relatives of various rabbis, or someone who had a recommendation from some rabbi. Such people found a place to sleep at the homes of householders in the city, including our home.

The employees in the sewing enterprise would often sing, accompanied by the hum of the machines. The songs burst forth through the window to the outside, both in the summer and the winter. This was at a time when there were no customers in the house. Debates about Zionism, Socialism, and Communism also took place during working hours. I often heard stories of Mendele Mocher Sforim^[18], Sholom Aleichem, Sholem Asch, Bialik, an Y. Y. Peretz from the workers. On Friday nights and Saturday nights, question and answer evenings took place in a special hall. At those times, there were vibrant debates, whether it was a literary evening or an evening devoted to political questions. These debates were repeated in our house during working hours.

It was not easy to be accepted by my father as an employee. One had to have special protektzia^[19]. For the most part, the youth were thirsty for knowledge, studies, and reading. When a lad reached the age of twelve or thirteen, he was either sent to Yeshiva to study, or was forced to learn a trade, such as shoemaking, sewing, or tailoring. There was no possibility for the youth to study in high school in the town, for there was no such school such as that in town, and travel to nearby Radom involved great expenses. It was certainly impossible to dream of even higher education. The only thing possible for the parents to do, if their means allowed for such, was to send their children to Yeshiva. Parents who earned their livelihood with difficulty and lived on meager bread would send their children to learn a trade. Those who were concerned that their children would veer off the good path or make friends who were not good or not sufficiently religious, would send them to an observant tradesman who was also good at his trade. My father of blessed memory was especially strict in accepting lads for work, and he guarded them lest they go out to a bad crowd, Heaven forbid. He made sure to pay the salaries on time, so as not to violate the prohibition of withholding salary, as written in the Torah^[20].

I recall that there was conflict between employees and their bosses regarding salary, which caused strikes

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and work stoppages. The workers organized themselves into trade unions, which represented the workers in work disputes. My father knew how to avoid such disputes. The employees related to him with honor and love.

We were ten children in the home, and not all of us studied the trade. The sons were sent to cheders and then to Yeshivas, and the girls studied in Beis Yaakov. My father chose the best teachers and paid tuition generously. After I returned from the Yeshivas when I was 18, I studied secular subjects several times a week with the principal of the public school, along with Yosef Cuker. I also studied with the Yeshiva lads: Kadish Langfus, Eli Noiman, Yitzchak the son of the Tkotsh, and Yisrael Avraham Szwicki. We studied Yoreh Deah with the rabbi of the city, Rabbi Yisrael Szapira of blessed memory.

The class in Yoreh Deah^[21] began at 4:00 a.m. and lasted for several hours. The rabbi prepared us to be able to issue halachic decisions. It was not easy to wake up so early in the morning, after being busy until late at night in preparing our secular studies. When I would be lying in my warm bed when there was a storm, snow, or frost outside, and my desire was to sleep during those early hours, my father would get up and wake me up with his pleasant, sweet voice that penetrated hearts. He would gently caress my face with his hand and plead, “Wake up, my son, be strong like a lion! Arise, arise from your sleep, do not be lazy and do not miss a class in Yoreh Deah.” I could not avoid responding to such a voice. This voice would soften my heart and stir up my soul, and my good inclination overcame my evil inclination. I would place my warm feet on the cold floor, wash my hands, recite Modeh Ani…^[22], wash up, get dressed, put on my warm goat furs, and run to the house of the rabbi. We were greeted there with hot tea. We sat and studied our class for four hours.

As I mentioned above, in the first room there was a bed partitioned off with a curtain so that honorable guests could sleep without disturbance from the workers late at night. During those late hours, the workers tried to produce wares that did not make noise. Guests such as those came to us almost throughout the week. They included preachers, sons of rabbis, and Jews who had become impoverished. They would leave their homes for an entire year to collect donations so that they could marry off a daughter who had come of age, or for some other equally important purpose.

Guests of this nature were not lacking in Poland. Half of the Jewish population there was needy. Many were ashamed to go out to collect donations, so they satisfied themselves with little and bore their suffering quietly. Those whose suffering had become too great, for the waters had reached the soul^[23], armed themselves with letters of recommendation from various rabbis or Hassidic Rebbes, went out to collect donations, and demanded strongly that their needs be met. There were those who delivered speeches from the bima in the Beis Midrash, spoke parables and novel Torah idea,

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and preached morality. The congregation came to hear Torah from them. At such events, they would station two men next to the door to collect money for them. Those who were not satisfied with the sum collected in the Beis Midrash would go from door to door, accompanied by a lad who was studying in the Beis Midrash. There were also simple beggars: deaf, mute, or blind people who would go from door to door to collect donations. Such people had a place to sleep in the hallways of the Beis Midrash.

Every Friday, my brothers and I, as well as our friends in the Beis Midrash, were involved in collecting donations for the poor. If the money was insufficient for the needs, we would go from door to door also in the middle of the week. The money that we collected was designated for the needs of the poor of the city to purchase medication, to provide for the needs of the Sabbath, and other such things. On more than one occasion, I suffered great suffering and felt searing embarrassment when people refused to give, but I faithfully fulfilled my task to the best of my ability, for this was a commandment that we were required to perform.

On the Sabbath, our city took on a different hue. Holiness descended upon the city as well as upon each and every home. They concerned themselves with the Sabbath every day of the week, starting from Sunday. The housewife would ration food throughout the week to leave something for the Sabbath. The householder was fortunate when he returned from the Beis Midrash after the service of the welcoming of the Sabbath, accompanied by his children as well as his guest. The women would light the candles before sunset. In most homes, they would light candles in accordance with the number of people in the house. The shutters were not closed during those times, so that the lit candles could be seen from outside. Since more than 90% of the residents of the city were Jews, light emanated from each and every house.

Toward evening on Friday, all the shops were closed and locked. Quiet and calm descended upon the town. On that day, the barbers were very busy. People came to get haircuts before the Sabbath, for who had time to tend to themselves throughout all the days of the week. The barbers were careful, and they would close the doors of the barbershop prior to candle lighting, so that they would not be caught, Heaven forbid, in disgrace if they continued to work after the beginning of the Sabbath.

Once, word came to the rabbi that the barbers continued their work behind closed doors even later. I recall that the rabbi went with a large crowd directly to the city barber in a protest march. News of this march reached the customers of the barber even before the crowd came, and they had time to hide in the cellar of the attic. There were barbers who were opposed to the intervention of the rabbi in this matter, and tried to not submit, but, in the end, they preferred to not enter into a dispute regarding this matter.

When we returned home from the Beis Midrash, we began to sing Shalom Aleichem to the angels that accompanied us.

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Father recited Kiddush over the wine, and we all sat down at the table after washing our hands. The guest occupied an honorable place at the head of the table next to Father. We sang Sabbath hymns with zest between each course. Mother and our sisters scurried about, bringing plates, spoons, forks, and knives, as they served all of us. Mother was full of contentment, for the children, the fruit of her womb, were eating, enjoying, and following in the paths of their forbears. It seemed to me that this was the only time of the week when her worries left a place for joy. At this time, during the meal, she made sure that everyone would receive their portion. Often, when there was enough food, she would give everyone another piece. “Leibele, Hershele, Chanale, you are young, eat, you need to have energy,” she would say. All the concerns of the week: laundry, baking bread, cleaning the house, helping her husband with work, watching over the children – everything passed. There were also hard times of childhood illnesses, tribulations of raising children – everything was forgotten and erased from her face. Today is the Sabbath, the holy Sabbath, and it is forbidden to worry, and certainly to be agonized.

During the winter, after the Sabbath meals, many people went to the Beis Midrash to study and delve into the Torah. The youth would go to their groups to sing together, listen to lectures, hear a book reading, and the like. The Sabbath day was completely dedicated to Torah and rest. The wheel turned about when the Sabbath ended and the Havdalah candle was lit. The Sabbath was a kind of vacation and respite, a source of physical and spiritual strength to continue to bear the yoke. As it ended, the grey day-to-day life began once again, at times difficult to bear.

How great was the joy when news arrived that Jews who were members and supporters of Agudas Yisroel were permitted to participate in the redemption of the land by purchasing land, a small plot of land, in the Land of Israel. The news reached the rabbi of the city from a group of rabbis who organized the mutual purchase of thousands of dunams in the Holy Land.

The rabbi of the city, Rabbi Yisrael Szapira, may the memory of the holy be blessed, all of whose money, dreams and thoughts were connected to aliya to the Land, brought this news to my father of blessed memory and to our family friend Reb Yaakov Bresztil of blessed memory. The three of them were happy, and their joy was boundless. Such an opportunity! It seemed to me that nothing would have brought them greater joy than this. The three of them began to prepare and seek ways as to how and how much to invest. They skimped on their own food and that of their families to the extent possible. They took on debt, paid the first installment, and carefully met all the other payment dates. It seems to me that this cost each of them 1,000 dollars, quite a significant sum in those days.

How great was the disappointment, however, when the enterprise was nullified after several years, with

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significant losses. This was due to those who stood at the head of the organization, took large portions for themselves, and used the advances that the rest of the participants contributed up front. When the final payment date came, the heads of the organization did not contribute their share. This caused delays, and the enterprise was finally disbanded. There were also damage payments that had to be paid to the Arab sellers. We received in return only approximately 10% of all the money that we had contributed. The disappointment was great, and the hope to make aliya to the Land and settle there was shattered into pieces. Only indescribable pain remained.

It seems to me that this took place at the beginning of the 1930s. The government of Poland decreed a one-sided moratorium, according to which farmers who owed any sum of money were given the possibility of consolidating and discharging their debt within seven years. On the one hand, this law was intended to make it easier for the farmers and to free them of their loans that they owed to the Jews. On the other hand, it was intended to gouge the Jews, in whose hands was the small-scale commerce and the provision of merchandise on credit. This was a hard blow to the Jews of the small towns, who earned their livelihoods from small-scale commerce – the sale of clothes, shoes, and other day-to-day necessities for the farmers.

At that time, we faced a serious crisis, prior to the loss of any possibility of earning our livelihoods. We owed a very large sum to the suppliers of raw material to our workshop, which we had no way of paying if we could not collect the money owed to us from our customers! Bankruptcies increased, and Jewish small-scale commerce and labor decreased. A Jew who earned his livelihood with difficulty would become bankrupt and lose his bearings overnight.

I spoke to the heart of my father, telling him to also announce his bankruptcy. This was a general plague, for which we were not guilty. However, he would not agree to this step under any circumstances. “There is no choice, I will sell everything I have, including myself, so that I can pay my debts,” he said. However, even during times when there was no moratorium, if a farmer did not want to pay his debt, my father did not demand it through the law. “This is not for me,” he said, “I will not swear or testify even if I am correct.” He preferred to forgo the debt rather than to appear in court.

There was no hospital in our town. There was a physician, but only people of means used him, and even so, only on rare occasions. When someone became ill and got a high fever, they used various means such as incantations and amulets before they would summon the medic (feldsher), who cured the sick person with cups of air, leaches, enemas, and the like. The medic was also able to measure the temperature and to prescribe medicine that he was permitted to prescribe. He only advised to summon the physician on rare occasions.

There was a hospital in the city of Radom. Anyone taken there was bid goodbye with grief and weeping, since

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in most cases the person was seriously ill, at the threshold of death. Many ill people refused to go to the hospital, saying that they preferred to die at home in their beds.

The poor of the city could not permit themselves to summon the medic to their house, and we had no shortage of poor people. The illnesses increased because of malnutrition, crowding, and lack of clothing, shoes, and heating fuel. The situation in the autumn and winter was particularly severe.

These ill people were cared for by the Bikur Cholim and Linat Tzedek societies. Budgets for this were provided for the most part by the members, or children were sent to collect donations. From this money they paid the medic, purchased medication, and supported the family if the head of the family was sick and there was nothing to eat in the house. Many sick people were afflicted with chronic illnesses or were burning with fever, and there was nobody to serve them. In such cases, volunteers from the society would stay overnight with the sick person at least twice a week. When my father got sick, they prayed for his wellbeing in the Beis Midrash and in several shtibels, and added the name Chaim to his name. When he was called to the Torah, he was called as Chaim Yoel the son of Eliezer Zeev.

For a certain period, my father did not sleep at home for an entire week. At that time, many people became bedridden, including Reb Nota Brojtman, who contracted a serious illness. My father stayed with him throughout the entire time of his illness. Reb Nota was extremely poor, and had no money for physicians or medication. His relatives and friends would go to the cemetery daily to “talk to the graves”^[24]. Minyans would gather in the Beis Midrash to recite psalms. They would open the Holy Ark. Heartrending weeping would burst forth from the women's section. The crisis passed, he began to sweat, and father said, “This is a sign that the fever has gone down, and he will get well with G-d's help.”

After he got well, he became involved with business and became wealthy. Landowners would come to him, and he would travel with them in their vehicles. He would often remind my father of the kind deed that he performed, saying, “Reb Yoel, with G-d's help and your help, I was saved from death.” Later, he was among the donors to the Bikur Cholim society.

Most of the members of the Chevra Kadisha [burial society] were also members of Bikur Cholim. Poor people, lacking everything, who died, and whose families had no money for the burial, would be supported for that purpose from a special fund set up by the Chevra Kadisha. The treasurer of the society would pay for the burial, and provide the rest of the needed items. The members themselves were involved in preparing the body for burial, and sometimes also concerned themselves with the children who were left without anything.

Once a year, during the Sukkot festival, a general meeting took place, at which the members heard a report of the activities and the state of the treasury. A new gabbai [trustee] for the year was elected at that meeting, and a festive meal took place. People drank toasts and danced for many hours. It was a great honor to be elected as the gabbai, and the joy was great. My father was chosen as the gabbai twice. At those times, he was fully enveloped with a great spiritual pleasure. He was radiant and full of joy of life.

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Relationship of Parents to Children

My father never raised a hand against any child. “To smack, to hit,” he said, “is not an educational manner.” When a child did something that should not be done, or misbehaved according the concepts of that time, my father would call him over during his free time to sit and talk to him. He asked, questioned ,and wanted to understand the circumstances. He listened seriously to every word that came from the child's mouth, and tried to understand and delve into the child's problem. After he clarified the matter, he spoke to the child's heart, and convinced him to change his ways. When he saw that the child submitted and regretted, he encouraged the child and began to praise him and remind him of his good deeds. I was always afraid of such a conversation. I related to his words with honor, and I felt his pain and agony for my improper behavior. More than anything, I regretted the discomfort and suffering that I caused him.

My father based his approach on the verse in Proverbs, “One who spares the rod hates the child”^[25]. He said that the word shevet does not literally mean a rod with which one hits, but rather the rod of moral lessons^[26].

I recall that when I was six or seven years old, a Rebbe was staying with us. The house was full of people. Hassidim came and left. They came to receive a greeting from the Rebbe, to give him a petitionary note (kvitel), and discuss their problems and worries with him. One Hassid forgot his watch with a nice chain on the table. To me, this was a nice toy. I wanted it, and put it in my pocket without telling anyone. The Hassid searched for his watch and did not find it, but it was somehow found in my pocket. My father immediately grabbed me, and brought me before the Rebbe. I was greatly afraid of my father and the Rebbe – who knows how bitter my fate would be? My father burst out crying in front of me, “Rebbe,” he said, “I have a thief, what shall I do?” With his face completely contorted in grief, he told him what had happened. His world had been pulled away from beneath his feet, all because of me! I suffered greatly and burst out in bitter weeping. The Rebbe looked at me with his penetrated eyes, and I lowered my eyes. I felt as if I had been excommunicated. Finally the Rebbe turned to my father and said, “Calm down, I promise you that he will not be a thief.” The tension dropped, and we left calmed.

My older sister, Malka, was educated in accordance with the customs of religion and tradition. She studied in a public school and also in Beis Yaakov. When she reached the age of 16-17 she began to read secular books, of course without the knowledge of our parents. She was very careful that they do not find out. The female employees gave her books from the library, and she read them in bed without anyone knowing. This reading and the discussions with her friends led her off the path in which she was educated at home.

One evening, she went to the barber and got a haircut a la garçon^[27]. Her long, pretty braids were cut in accordance with the fashion, and her lovely neck was bared. She returned home when our parents were already asleep. The next day, our parents saw the “disgrace” that their beloved daughter had caused them. I felt their anguish. Their pain was unbearable. How could this be? This is what their eldest daughter did! Our parents did not speak

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to her, excommunicate her, or evade her presence. They did not shout or hit her, Heaven forbid. After a few days, Father made his peace with the deed. He spoke to her and explained to her that this is not a sin, but rather a conduit toward sin.

My mother, Yenta of blessed memory, was short and thin, as if she was all bones. She had a special charm and beauty. Did she tend to her beauty? She never would have thought of this. She did not adorn herself or put on makeup. Such matters were subordinate to her solitary role – to provide for the needs of the members of her household: baking bread for all the days of the week in order to spare expenses, cooking, laundry, mending torn clothing, and also helping her husband at his work when she had free time. She got up early in the morning when everyone was still sleeping, and was the last to go to bed. Despite her difficult daily work, without rest or any time off, she did not complain. She accepted everything with love. Her sole purpose in life was to raise her children. When she saw them satisfied, dressed, and cared for, she was full of contentment. She never raised her voice to shout at the children. She hid any misbehavior of any child from our father so as not to vex him. I never heard and exchange of harsh words between her and Father. She esteemed and honored her husband, and concerned herself with his health and clean clothing. Their joint, sublime task to educate the children properly, and to ensure that the house was run peacefully bound them together in an unbreakable bond.

I had a warm prayer in my mouth that the day would come when I would be able to express my feelings and to disclose my soulful bond with them, to pay them back at least a bit of what they had given me. To our great tragedy, we did not merit such. They perished at the hands of the Nazis, innocent and as devoid of iniquity as babies. When?… How?… Where?. There is no answer… They are no more… To this day, nobody knows their burial place.

Translator's Footnotes

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uva_letzion Return
2. This evidently is the first page of a longer letter, shown here as a sample of the rabbi's writing. The photocopy (and probably the original) is not clear. It is difficult to make out all the letters, and some are smudged. I translated as best I could, but there are some omissions, and likely some mistranslations. On the other hand, the context is very clear, and it matches the story of the chapter in which it is embedded. The rabbi notes that the investment in land in Israel had fallen through, and is trying to find out the quality of the land. Return
3. June 25 (night) or June 26 (day), 1933. Return
4. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Grabski and https://www.jta.org/1938/03/02/archive/wladyslaw-grabski-sponsor-of-anti-jewish-tax-policy-dead-in-poland Return
5. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Graetz Return
6. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birobidzhan Return
7. Rabbi Isaac Luria. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Luria Return
8. Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Przysucha. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaakov_Yitzchak_Rabinowicz Return
9. PirkeiAvot 6:4. Return
10. See https://kupathrabbimeir.org/ Return
11. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Dakar Return
12. Mixtures of wool and flax [shaatnez] are forbidden according to Jewish law (Leviticus 19:19). Return
13. It is considered meritorious to eat of the leftover food that was blessed by the Rebbe. Return
14. Isaiah 55:1. Return
15. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wronki_Prison Return
16. Psalms 22:2. Return
17. The foliage covering required for a sukkah. Return
18. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendele_Mocher_Sforim Return
19. A hard word to translate. Nepotism would be a bit too harsh, but it does imply special relationships or knowing the right people. Return
20. Leviticus 19:13 and Deuteronomy 24:15. Return
21. One of the four sections of the Code of Jewish Law [Shulchan Aruch]. Return
22. A brief prayer upon arising in the morning. Return
23. Psalm 69:1. Return
24. To intercede to the dead. Return
25. Proverbs 13:24 Return
26. I.e. he interpreted the word “rod” figuratively. Return
27. Male style. Return

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