[Page 183]

In the first years of the 20's, when the Bolshevik authorities intensified their pursuit of Jewish religious institutions, the Yeshiva of Novardok which at that time had a network of its branches spread among many cities and towns in the Ukraine, Byelorussia, and partly also in the Russian heartland, transferred itself to Poland. This was accomplished in an illegal manner, by surreptitiously traveling during dark nights, in order not to be detected by the Russian border guards.

Arriving in Poland, the Yeshiva set itself a goal of establishing Yeshivas in the cities and towns of the nation. To accomplish this purpose, it established four central yeshivas: In Bialystok, in Warsaw, in Miedzyrzecz, and in Siemiatycze.

On an early morning after Sukkot, a turnout of an entire Yeshiva suddenly appeared in the Hasidic Bet HaMedrash in Tomaszow, which consisted of the Headmaster, a principal, two lesson directors, and about two tens of young men. Following the behest of its Bialystok central [school], the Ludomir [branch] had sent them to Tomaszow to establish a Novardok Yeshiva.

Despite the fact that, some time before this, a Novardok delegation, headed by the Ludomir Yeshiva Headmaster Rabbi R' Schraga Maggid ז”ל הי”ד, having petitioned in Tomaszow, and paved the way by the fact that a gathering was held in the Great Bet HaMedrash, and a committee was created to take on and organize the Yeshiva, nevertheless, the appearance of the Yeshiva elicited a sensation in the city. People ran and stared in wonderment at the young men in their short jackets milling about the Bet HaMedrash, back and forth, during their study hour, and in loud intonation, rehearsing words and sayings from the books of tradition, without stop. Their mid-week praying was especially attractive, with a drawn-out keening tone of imploring, which could move a stone. Masses of listeners would assemble to their weekly evening service.

What impact did this event have in the field of education of the religious body of the city?

[Page 184]

In order to provide a clear answer to this. We must first see what the state of Torah study looked like at that time.

If, up to the First World War, only the old-style Heder existed, and after completing Heder studies at the age of 12-13, boys by and large continued their studies in a variety of Hasidic shtiblakh, the situation changed fundamentally during the war, and afterwards.

With the disappearance of the Russian-Austrian border in the vicinity of the town, the latter obtained proximate access to the railroad at the Belzec station. This opened a wide portal to for [the town] to the surrounding world. If, for example, it was necessary to travel to the nearest station by oxcart, in Razowiec, which was a trek of several days, and was therefore an undertaking limited to few individuals, the city now came to life, having a rail station under their very nose after the war. And the populace took advantage of using these generous paths often, and in large numbers. Tomaszow was no longer a far-off little town, somewhere in a dank corner. Also, the young people began to feel themselves confined by the walls of the Bet HaMedrash, and begins to travel out to the cities of the more liberated world, bringing back with them the inspiration for a rejuvenated activity in community issues. All manner of political parties also arrive in the city, and each organizes a youth division of its own. The entirety of community life is modernized. All the Hasidic shtiblakh, where the young people used to sit and study are emptied of this cohort. An exception to this is the shtibl of R' Yehoshua'leh, where a few young people who do not allow themselves to be swept up by the stream of modernization, find their place there, among the volumes of the Gemara, and other Holy Writ. In this way, R' Yehoshua'leh's shtibl remains as the single center for Torah [study] in the entire city. However, study there is conducted in the old style, on an individual basis. Each person studies alone, without a system, and without any oversight for the rather young boys, whether one actually learns, or one simply idles away the entire day, accomplishing nothing. This type of a learning situation can, naturally, have no attractive power with young people.

Most of the Jews of the city longed for the times of the not-too-distant past, when the sound of Torah [study] could be heard coming from all of the houses of study. However, they felt themselves helpless in this respect. Accordingly, the plan of the [Novardok] delegation, to organize a Yeshiva in the city, was therefore very much in line with what this community felt in its heart.

It was in the fall of 1925 when the Yeshiva was opened. The town committee, led by R' David Weitzman הי”ד and R' Mikhl Yuda Pflug הי”ד ( of the rest that I remember, there were R' Moshe Weissleder ע”ה R' Yud'l Wagner and R' Gershon Rothenberg הי”ד) diligently threw themselves into the work of organization. Immediately on the first day, secure lodging was set up for the several tens of boys, as well as ‘days’ [e.g. for donated meals] to eat at the homes of various balebatim. The Belz Hasidim turned over their shtibl for studies during the first winter.

Already from the first days, the tables of the Belz shtibl were fully occupied with boys of various ages. The dulcet tones of their Gemara study, echoed back far and wide around more than half the city.

Children begin to appear, first one at a time, and then in groups, also from cities and towns around Tomaszow, such as: Krasnobrod, Jozefów, Tarnogrod, Szczebrzeszyn, Izbica, Komarow, Laszczow, etc. and also little towns in the Wolhynian region. And, let it be recollected here, to the credit of the Jews of Tomaszow, who, generally lived lives that were poor, and nevertheless, received these pupils from unfamiliar places with grace, not permitting one of these, approximately 100 in number, be without a place to sleep or a day in which to eat.

[Page 185]

The students were divided into three study groups with a study group leader for each, and a group, ‘kibbutz’ of boys before whom the Headmaster would give a ‘discourse’ and a casuistic lecture from time-to-time.The order of study was such that the students studied a page of the Gemara approximately each day, and in the evening, would review this together under the oversight of the study group head. Twice daily – for an hour each time – the study of the tradition from ‘Mesilat Yesharim’ of from ‘dem Alten's,’ brochures, ‘Madregat HaAdam.’ (that is how they referred to the founder of the Novardok Yeshivas R' Joseph Yud'l Hurwitz ז”ל)

Every Sabbath at dusk, the Headmaster would give a discourse in matters of tradition on themes related to the portion of the week. The Sabbath dusks of the month of Elul were dedicated to themes of repentance and were called discourses of awakening.

Peripheral listeners would come to all of these discourses, and to the ‘awakening’ the women also came to listen, standing outside near the open windows, listening, not infrequently with teary eyes. They would celebrate the Festivals in a rather elevated manner, especially Hanukkah and Purim, with song and dance, and original Novardok songs with an addendum of expositions on tradition, that would attract great masses of onlookers. All of this gave them great visibility in the entire Jewish surrounding, and brought inspiration for respecting the Torah and Jewish tradition.

After being in Tomaszow for less than a half year, the Yeshiva moved itself to Chmielnik. The reason for this is not known to me.

For the short time of its existence in Tomaszow, the Yeshiva did a great deal for the study of Torah. It plowed up a barren field, and made it bear fruit again. It provided an impetus for a meaningful part of the young people to follow the strict rules of the Halakha.

In leaving the city, the Yeshiva took along a specific number of its students with itself. Others continued their studies in R' Yehoshua'leh's shtibl, and also in the Sanz shtibl.

And if Tomaszow stood out as a city with a large cohort of Torah-loyal young people, unique in the area, this very Novardok period had its part in this [result], not underestimating, in this way, the heartfelt love and commitment to Torah study, by the largest part of the Tomaszow Jewish populace.

[Page 186]

The Leadership of ‘Lekhem Aniyim’ (Bet Lekhem) From the right: Moshe'li Fankever, Shmuel Hirsch Henyet (Hammer),Shlomo Knopf, Yekhezkiel Lehrer, Moshe Freund, Yaakov Szerer, Nathan Greenwald, Eli' Drimmler, Abraham'li Goldschmid, Nahum Zucker (Shammes), and Moshe Nachman Shlomo'leh's Sitting: Chaim Yehoshua Biederman, and Ephraim Hirschfeld

Friday, prior to the distribution of the bread and Challahs to the needy or their messengers

The name of the organization ‘Lekhem Aniyim,’ fully reflected the purpose and substance of its activity: Bread for the Poor. Its purpose was to provide for the poor and those who were alone, who did not have bread or flour for Challah for the Sabbath. The truth is, that it lasted for half a week. The organization started out small and modestly, but thanks to their diligent and decent work, and also, unfortunately due to the need and the poverty of the Jewish populace, which became greater and worse from year to year, especially in the few years before the outbreak of the war. Because of the economic pressure and boycott actions, the Jewish populace became severely impoverished, and each week brought new recipients for ‘L”A,’ to the point that the distribution reached close to 400 recipients out of a population of close to 1500 Jewish families.

Nahum Shammes, with Sarah'leh along with the help of their committee, the sweet-hearted Jews, organized themselves into ‘parties,’ who visited all the Tomaszow Jews without exception, simply not omitting a single Jewish house. The solution of the ‘Lekhem Aniyim’ committee was ‘either one takes, or one gives,’ such that each Jew who had already made preparations for the Sabbath had already taken part in the ‘Lekhem Aniyim’ campaign. The donations, by and large, consisted of natural baked goods, meaning, a Challah, a roll, a round bread, a bun, and these same products, in the main were all home-baked, meaning that the lady of the house usually had done the baking in the home oven. A portion made a special order with the baker to set aside a couple of Challahs for ‘Lekhem Aniyim,’ at the same time they put in their own order. Others made weekly

[Page 187]

monetary contributions, such that every Jewish resident took part with donations to ‘Lekhem Aniyim,’ each one in accordance with their means.

Also, once a year, a Sabbath was set aside in each of the shtiblakh and houses of study to do fund-raising for ‘Lekhem Aniyim.’ Many worshipers were especially called to the Torah, and each made a donation [at the time of their aliyah] to ‘Lekhem Aniyim.’ The Tomaszow landsleit in New York would send in a large contribution every year, on behalf of the Tomaszow-Lubelski Society.

In the presence of a few of the committee members, at the home of Nahum Shammes, on Friday at about noon, the Challahs and the bread were distributed. There were three categories of the needy, and consequently three types of divisions:

1. The family men and others who had accepted the shame of their poverty, and made peace with their lot that they have to live off handouts, who came on their own volition to demand their portion, and many times haggled over it.
2. Those who were ashamed to come and take challah publicly, and for these, the portion was sent with a child, accompanied by a committee member.
3. Impoverished people who were deeply in debt, respectable balebatim who had fallen from their positions, they hungered and were ashamed to disclose their circumstances, and did not want to accept such critical gifts. For these, it was necessary to find ways by means of a variety of stratagems and deceptions, to have challah delivered to them, or money with which to buy Challahs. Sometimes it had to take place by the intermediation of several emissaries, so that all traces of the origin would be completely wiped away, because, under no circumstances, could they make peace with the fate that had to be receiving ‘Lekhem Aniyim.’

What led to the establishment of the ‘Lekhem Aniyim?’ On a certain Friday night, when the men went off to the Friday evening Sabbath service, a woman visited her neighbor, who was considered to be a person with means on the city. The table has a full Sabbath appearance, with candles and a challah cover on the Challahs. As it happens, a breeze from the window blew the challah cover off, and two bricks were revealed in place of two challahs. The woman burst into tears out of shame.

[Page 188]

Facsimile of message to Jewish women concerning the ritual requirements for family purity

In the first place, this became a problem of releasing the poor womenfolk from paying any fee for service, or to give a discount in proportion to their financial capacity, in such a manner that money not become a barrier to the observation of family purity. In the second place, their objective was to improve and make more beautiful, the inner orientation and service so that they not be a deterrent even for the modern younger woman.

Regrettably, their struggle with the second problem was without solution, because, regrettably, the steam-bath and mikva were very primitive. Despite this, they approached everything in accordance with their means, as far a possible, to improve and beautify [the facilities], buying new bathing vessels (of metal) and in a large measure, provided good service. The most important balebatim in the city undertook to serve on this committee, Ephraim Ruv Presses, Pinchas Goldstein, Lipa Honigsfeld and Neta Heller.

The income was derived from a monthly fee from all the Jews of the city with means, and regular income from the mikva and the baths, which the Rabbis and the special committee had created, and later this was taken over by the Jewish community. A special levy was placed on the total for the construction of the bath-mikva construction, in accordance with the most modern style, with special chambers and baths.

The world became more modern, and it demanded bathing facilities that exhibited all the requirements of modern hygiene. And, indeed, this is what was created. A new mikva was constructed, with rooms and a new bath. Also, it had become necessary to speak about and explain about the principal basis represented by family purity in Judaism, in word and in writing. And thanks to this, this mitzvah was observed by almost 9% of Jewish women.

[Page 189]

As a Bit of a Foreword

The Market Halls

Apart from the commercial or professional aspect of the livelihoods that the Jews pursued, they also had a political and psychological dimension to them.

One of the objectives that the Poles set for themselves to attain, was to make Poland Judenrein.

Polish anti-Semitism, which always simmered just beneath the boiling point, and spewed forth ant-Semitic venom, has suddenly acquired a new motto, a national motif: to make more room for Poles and to get rid of Jews. They undertook to carry out this mission with their fullest ardor. To attain that objective, they made use of the means of destroying the Jewish means of livelihood.

This solution also followed the dictum: “No manner of pogroms, just hit the Jews in the pocketbook.”

The spear point of this campaign was placed entirely against the Jewish merchant and storekeeper. On that sector where most of the Jewish populace was [economically] concentrated. This area of endeavor had yet another characteristic and it was here that the Poles were able to generously exploit and attain significant results in their malevolent plans. The pressure on the small storekeeper was especially great. The weaker and more impoverished he was, the easier it would be to disenfranchise him.

The Jew, no matter how weak and helpless, but possessed of a strong will to live, employed all means, utilized every legal stratagem to protect themselves again these angry forces.

The struggle was laden with doubt, mean-spirited, but hopeless. One's skin was not meant to play against the sheep, but rather circumvent it.

The Jewish circumstances in Tomaszow, as in all of Poland in general, can be likened to that of a ship, which the threatening waters drenched and put under. Large part of the Jewish populace became unemployed, and without a means of sustenance, with on today, and no tomorrow. A small sliver still stuck out, with frail connection – the higher, the more tenuous – which still was able to enjoy some material benefits.

For a variety of reasons, this ship, over the course of time, should have gone even further down. The Poles, however, had no time or patience, and stormed at it from all sides, in order to hasten its total sinking.

In telling about Jewish means of making a living, one inevitably must unroll the bloody scroll of assault and suffering.

[Page 190]

We provide, in a condensed form, a bit of a picture of the economic structure of the Tomaszow Jews.

We do not encompass all of the branches, but only the larger part of the most important ones.

In proportion, Tomaszow was a small town. As is the case in a small town, everything is open [sic: known]. Everyone knew everyone else, and everyone else's business. You either accomplished this by seeing it, or hearing about it. And now, even though quite a bit of time has passed since then. All these things seem as if they happened yesterday.

The economic function of the store is – intermediation. The product, article or creation that the storekeeper presents, are for the use of the buyer who has no access to the primary producer. In the worst case, the buyer, in some instances, must add additional value before finally making use [of the product].

The articles had been subjected to all of the fundamental processes and was in the same state as when the storekeepers bought merchandise, and this is how they sell it.

The intermediation character of the stores was utilized by the Poles to illustrate that the Jews were “unproductive parasites” and are living of someone else's productivity. A consequence of this, was that it was literally a mitzvah to assault the Jews.

The irony of this mean-spirited designation lay in the fact that the Jewish storekeeper's groschen was soaked through and through in sweat and blood.

In an environment where there was a dearth of money, and consumed by ruinous competition, the Jewish storekeeper was forced to put in long hours and hard labor in order to extract a pittance of groschen.

All this does not even take into account the chicanery and assaults on the part of the Polish authorities, who did everything possible to constrain the Jewish storekeeper more and more, until they left the Jew without the ability to even breathe.

On the other side, this did not deter the Polish government and the Polish community to agitate for, and encourage Poles to open stores and warehouses. In this manner, they gave the stragan the importance and placed the stragan and the retail store at such a high and central point, just as if it provided the key to solving all the problems. This is how the circumstances presented themselves, and under which the Jewish storekeeper had to work.

This is a short illumination of the atmosphere, which the Poles created around the Jewish storekeeper, and in so doing, also about the technical and economic side of the stores in Tomaszow.

Stores divide themselves into two types: into a wholesale and retail store.

We had two wholesale businesses in our city: one was of iron work, the other was of colonial merchandise. The iron work store was of a wholesale character not so much because of its trade with stores, but rather because iron work was sold to private buyers, even in larger quantities. For example: for the building or renovation of houses. The colonial business was wholesale through and through; these were goods presented

[Page 191]

for stores and very little dedicated to the retail trade.

These two businesses carried on their trade on a scale that far, far exceeded the proportions of our city. They would have been considered substantial businesses even in larger cities. Skill, adeptness, high energy, and diligence were all responsible for their success. Thereby, it is worth remarking that in both businesses, it was women who played the principal role. The men in the colonial business especially were exceptional in their mercantile skills.

Thanks to these mercantile skills, the colonial store was able to stand up to the competition that the Poles put up against it.

The Poles did everything, that was possible, to achieve their goal of making Poland Judenrein.

Side by side with the open, hostile and brutal handling towards the Jews, the Poles employed a more cunning and refined method. The method consisted of setting up economic positions and by means of propaganda, and pressure, force the peasants and others to buy from the Poles. It was in this fashion that they sought to draw off the water from the Jewish river so that the fish there would therefore have to die.

For this purpose, a co-operative was placed in our city. This was a large wholesale undertaking of colonial goods.

The founders and participants were the local Polish gentry – the nobles. You can understand that this syndicate benefitted from tax abatements, and had open credits at the Polish bank.

Despite the strong agitation and anti-Jewish propaganda, it was a fact, that the Polish storekeepers – even those that were helped to become storekeepers by the anti-Semitic organizations, and in many instances also, brought them in from the outside – preferred to deal with the Jewish colonial business. As one can imagine, the more skilled handling, and the soft and helpful reception was more quickly attractive than the bureaucratic insults and rigid, and similar relationship.

The vital business and wide revenue streams at the wholesale businesses was, however, often shot through with the black clouds of blood sucking, aggravation and fear. Such moments were brought upon the Jews by the “Flying Brigade.”

That is what the government organization was called whose mission was to assure that the books of a business should be in order. The staff of the brigade had the right to demand the books for audit at any time, whether by day or by night. In connection to the Jews, the brigade did not limit itself only to its mission. All the efforts of the brigade staff were, first and foremost, directed – to find violations of the law.

What encouraged them, in this endeavor, was their suspicion that the Jews did not record everything, and make combinations. This suspicion was supported by the fact that the Polish regime demanded everything

[Page 192]

for itself, leaving for the merchant a meager dried out residue for his energy and work, if there was any earnings. (In connection with a Polish merchant, they got through, and made abatements. In the case of a Jewish merchant, the full amount of the law was levied).

And apart from this, the Jewish merchant had to grease everybody's palm, who had any sort of authority. Otherwise, the merchant was trapped, not being able to move.

In order to proceed with certainty, the brigade people made use of a method that was reminiscent of the cleaning of Chametz. In order not to recite a blessing in vain, the Jew provides small bits of the Chametz [in advance]. They, too, provided for “bits of Chametz.” They did this in the following manner: before the Lotna staff went to audit the books, they would, on a specific day – especially on a market day, Thursday – station themselves in front of their selected business, and stopped everyone that came out of there, asking them what they had purchased, how much they had paid, etc. They would write all of this down, also noting the time. In passing, it is worth noting that the peasants, and the gentile customers provided all of this information, despite the fact that they could have not done this, and knew the purpose of the interrogation. Most of the Christian customers were satisfied at such an opportunity to cause a Jew such grief. It was rare to find one, that didn't want any part of such pressure.

Having such data in their possession, they permitted themselves to inflict a visit on the Jew, or on a noisy market day, or in the middle of the night, and demand the books.

The most minute and innocent discrepancy could bring the result of an embargo against all of the merchandise until a legal decision was taken, and placing the owner in the shadow of a heavy monetary fine, and sometimes it smelled of “Bereza Kartuzka.” Under the best of circumstances, it cost money and blood.

One can imagine the dark and frightful experience that the Jew had to go through, when these dark guests in the form of Brigade Officials appeared. Such visits were not a rarity.

The larger part of the Jews of Tomaszow Lubelski attempted to derive its sustenance from running a store. This phenomenon did not have its justification in the great economic possibilities that the field portended, but was the result of negative reasons. There was nothing else to turn to, since “all sources of livelihood were stopped up,” – as Chaim Nachman Bialik ז”ל said. However, the desire to live was there, and it was necessary to eat. The one area that did not require much money, and also did not require any special skill, was store keeping. Foremost, it came with the fact that they were raised in and practiced in their father's store. And the one who had a bit of money – especially newlyweds – tried their luck at a store. Thereby, everyone believed that this would be their lucky ticket. However, the lucky ticket rarely was drawn. The rest had to lose, but that loss was accompanied by physical and psychological suffering. In an economic sense – in the hindsight of making a living – there was a great difference between the sectors.

[Page 193]

Cut Goods – Fashion and Leather – Shoe Businesses

Most successful in the Tomaszow proportion, were those sectors of the industrial articles, such as cut goods, fashion, leather, shoes and others. The outlet for these very articles fell upon the general populace, whether in the city or outside in the villages. The cut goods sector took the largest share. The general program that continued to develop with the passage of the years, advanced the utility of cut goods. Even in the villages, they began to take on this dress. Because of these reasons, the cut goods sector could be composed of a larger number of storekeepers, that those sectors producing the other industrial articles. Accordingly, the cut goods sector was successful for a specific number of its merchants. The heads of the sector, which numbered only a pair, were substantially wealthy. Also, those of the middle rank, were not badly situated. The advantageous character of the sector broke down when it came to the point of the small stores with too little merchandise. It especially had a connection to the fair-day merchants, who, on fair days, would lay out their merchandise under the open sky on stands.

On the somber plain of the generally difficult plight, a formidable confetti business stood, virtually without competition. Its outlet was quite substantial. Its clients consisted of people from the general populace that had means. In addition, business was conducted in a quiet way: without noise or upset. This business placed the owner in the ranks of the wealthiest men of the city. And what of the other sectors of industrial products? They were not so successful as cut goods. The number of storekeepers, which each of the sectors carries, was in proportion a small one. Also, the people of means in these sectors, their wealth consisted of more a broad sort of income, in the Tomaszow style, that was true of the truly wealthy.

The food and colonial stores were found on a lower level (Food and colonial produce went together). The outlet for these items came almost exclusively from the Jewish populace. In addition to this, the number of stores was much greater than demanded by the needs.

Apart from food stores, there were also businesses of other types that had to do with food, but they dealt only with the momentary need for food and drink. And the buyer, who was a patron, made use of his purchase right on the spot. The following businesses belonged to this category: restaurants, saloons, soda water kiosks, and confectionaries. This referenced group added nothing and took nothing away from the general picture of the stores. Their colors were neither lighter nor darker, and in general, blended into the general surroundings. Despite this, a couple of specific properties and details of this group illuminate and put the general Jewish life into better relief.

There were three restaurants in Tomaszow. Each of the three was a part of a hotel, that each of the given restaurants served. They did not cook meals on demand. Eating times were designated. The Jewish populace in Tomaszow, in general, was not in a position to indulge a midday meal in a restaurant, no matter how hungry or busy one was. And apart from this, the city was small, an therefore, one always found one's self near home. The restaurants served only out of town guests, who were lodging in that hotel.

One restaurant might, on occasion, prepare a couple of unscheduled midday meals. The buyers of such meals might be whichever of the wagon drivers or porters who because of their livelihood were compelled night

[Page 194]

and day to be on the street. They would occasionally buy such a meal simply to warm themselves up or cheer themselves up.

There were four saloons that Jews serviced. Apart from our concession, which was in our mother's ע”ה name, the rest of the concessions belonged to Poles, and the Jews leased them.

The saloon keepers, at one time, had their own concessions. Poland itself, after the liberation, gave them these concessions, and this was their livelihood for years. But with the times, Poland took away the concessions from the Jews, and gave them to Poles. Despite the fact that they attempted to do so, they did not take our concession away from us. We had great protection, and were in possession of documents that our family had earned great revenues for Poland in the Powstanies (the Rebellions). Despite this, when our mother ע”ה died, three months before the last war, the Polish regime immediately hastened to take away the concession.

A concession of one's own had a drawback: the Polish regime levied high taxes on the concessions. And it was only through combinations that one could get something out for one's self. The saloon keepers with the leased concessions could do this, in the instance when something might happen, the Poles, who were the owners, would see to it that nothing would come of it. The Polish government managed to get along with gentiles. There would be an entirely different outcome if the concession were a Jewish one.

Apart from the saloon keepers with concessions, there were also about five or six beer halls without the right to sell strong spirits. A few of these latter [beer halls] had their own concessions. The rest had been beer halls on an ongoing basis. They sold whiskey on the sly. Their customers were “salt of the earth” peasants, who felt as if they were in their own home in the beer hall. They would leave the items that they bought with the Jew, or brought things from home, and in general, took advantage of great conveniences. This kept them tied to the Jew and also provided a guarantee against being informed on to the authorities.

There was not a large number of soda water kiosks, which were spread around the city. Part of them belonged to the soda water factories and served as distribution channels through which more soda water could be sold. The others were independently owned kiosks, from which the owners attempted to make a living. The profit margin consisted of groschen. In addition to soda water, the following was also sold from these kiosks: a light snack, a sweet or salted appetizer, and ices (in the summer). A business of this sort did not demand a great deal of capital. The principal investment was physical labor. The central source of income was during the summer, and especially on hot days, when the public cooled off with soda water and ices. By contrast, income in the winter fell completely down. Despite this, the people who operated the kiosks were not free of work. They had to prepare themselves for summer, and this was not light work.

Lighter points in this branch of the soda water kiosks were the three confectionaries. These three were managed on a broader scale, had a larger selection of a variety of sweet goods, and also imported fruits. You can understand that they brought in a larger income than the soda water kiosks.

[Page 195]

The Bitter Circumstances of the Storekeepers

In addition to the heavy burden of making a living, fate also dealt to the storekeepers to the fullest intensity, the anti-Semitic pressure, and the need to be on the most demanding rank to be assaulted by the extermination policies towards the Jews.

The reason for this “good fortune,” lay in the character of the strategy in relationship to the Jews. In their activity to make Poland Judenrein, the Poles implemented a strategy of “striking the enemy on the weaker and easier side.” The stores in the best case expressed these two conditions: on the one side, the stores were like food on the plate, that can be accessed at every time and minute, when the nobleman only wanted to. On the other side, the stores – in a large majority – barely gurgled along: in an economic sense, they were like dead limbs – standing on a difficult plane – and even with very slight stresses, could cause them to be toppled.

The Polish people, through its government, applied its entire energy and effort to uproot the weak storekeeper from his position. The government let loose every pauper that it had that would be useful for this purpose. It made use of its administrative arm, which created decrees, constraints, and set on commissions, such as sanitation and others, who, like bloodthirsty insects, bit the storekeeper -- imposing fines. In this connection, the local authorities were not restrained in the sacred work to stifle the Jewish storekeeper.

The strongest arm, however, that excelled in its capacity to break Jewish lives, was “The Tax Authority.” The Tax Authority enveloped the Jewish storekeeper in a net of taxation, making the net, each time, more thick.

The Tax Authority did this by computing high taxes, raising the storekeeper's assessment and levy so high, that he could not even imagine it in his dream.

The storekeeper attempted to demonstrate with factual evidence that the calculation had no basis in fact, but this helped in only rare instances.

Against the just complaints from the Jews, the Tax Authority would refer to a report that it had in its possession. This was a report that had been compiled by the Tax Authority staff, that the office would often send to inspect the Jewish incomes and bring back information.

The way the inspections were conducted, and the way the data was then used by the Tax Authority as a basis for their tax computation – demonstrated an act of despicable cynicism and conniving gruesomeness, which is worth mentioning here. But first, a few words about the officials themselves.

In order to provide work for the quarter and bits of intelligent Poles, especially the young, the Polish government filled all of its offices with an excess number of these same types. The Tax Authority offices

[Page 196]

were especially over-staffed with people of this category. These people had nothing to do, the only work that they had was to amuse themselves.

It was this bunch that the Tax Authority sent to inspect the Jewish stores and to bring back reports. These people would wander around among the stores, until they perceived buyers in a given place of business. When the storekeeper was in the middle of haggling, they would make an entrance.

Seeing them cause the hands and feet of the storekeeper to begin trembling. He knew the purpose of their visit, and what he could expect. They, again, in a cynical manner, with a tone of a so-called friend, and “sweet” words, advised the storekeeper to only take his customers into account and to serve them. In the meantime, they went about making a record of everything that he sold, and how long it lasted.

When the Jew would come to complain about the baseless taxes, he was shown the report. From it, a calculation was made, that according to this information, he, in the course of a certain amount of time, earned so much and so much. And if one calculated together in accordance with this proportion, the hours of the day, that the store was open – the tax is actually very, very low. In this way, the victim was even further incited. The storekeeper struggled with his entire might. He used every means that he had to help him, though for the time being, holding back the iron and pitiless hand that stalked after his few zlotys, on which his, and his household's life hung.

In many instances, the money was borrowed money. In this, it is necessary to also take into account that however longer was his position, it helped the Jewish storekeeper that in Poland, one was not morally responsible for a tax obligation -- there was no threat of arrest. One was only responsible with what one possessed. And this responsibility extended to everything up to leaving you with something to cover your bare skin. Anything, more than this, could be confiscated. (In relation to the Jews, the Polish government actually behaved like this, and used this right without any consideration).

Thanks to the fact that tax obligations did not incur arrest, when the storekeeper saw that they were not giving any consideration to his substantive complaints, and the Tax Authority simply wants to rip off his possessions, he transferred ownership of his business and merchandise to a sympathetic stranger, and made that party the owner.

This was possible before the Tax Authority had marked the merchandise to cover the tax obligation. In the instance that the merchandise was already marked, the storekeeper was responsible, under penalty of heavy fines, for the loss of even the most minute item. However, if the Jew hurried, he could then breathe a bit easier for a space of time. In the area of these sorts of combinations, situations were created, that were it not for their tragic nature, would have been quite comic. Jews with beards and side locks and great Hasidim lived, as it were with lovers, instead of wives, they had mistresses.

Such situations came about, when because of the pressure of the Tax Authority, the storekeeper would transfer everything to his wife, and through an civil divorce, made her into a stranger to him. You understand, that this divorce was civil only, and not done in accordance with Jewish law.

When the Tax Authority would come in the middle of the night to audit if the husband and wife were separated, and found the woman in the house, the man would reply that she was his mistress. The [tax] bunch

[Page 197]

would amuse themselves with questioning the Jew, such as, how does it come to be that an observant Jew should have a mistress, and other questions of the sort.

In general, the Poles laughed and made sport of the Jewish combinations, and of “mistresses.” They laughed because they knew they controlled the situation, and at any time, they could yank the cord, and close the opening. They also did it such that the new owner was liable for the taxes with which the former owner had been charged.

There were also instances when the Jews laughed and the Poles – didn't. But the laughing was not without pain. I am reminded of an instance when a Jew that had been stripped, who had been left with wet hands, smoked up cooked food and a couple of broken pots, an executor from the Tax Authority arrived to write up his assets for his one remaining tax liability. With a serious face, the Jew took down a can from a corner, and turned it upside down, and asked the executor to sit down. Thereby, he carried over a broken stool as a table, where he could lay down his notebook to write. The Pole didn't feel quite at home, and quickly left. The Jew laughed again. Such incidents with a variety of content were not few. This was the single act of vengeance that Jews could exact from their enemies the Poles.

Every year, a certain number of Jews were thrown out of their economic positions remaining without a way to make a living, and unemployed, without a present or a future. The path to this point went through a Hell of emotional and physical suffering.

It is different if you have nothing, but also different if you have a little bit of something, and it is on that something that one's own life and the life of one's kin depends, and an unbounded force actively attempts to tear it away. The frightening pictures that are drawn, the dark denouement, that is put forward, when the enemy is going to attain his, led to experiences that could drive people crazy. The fear and trembling, not to lose the “something,” was like dynamite planted underneath you, that tears living pieces of flesh from the body. It was not rare that it occurred when people could no longer stand the pressure, the Jew either fell in battle, or took his own life.

The Jewish storekeepers and merchants in Poland, especially the small ones in the smaller towns, like Tomaszow, felt like they were taken into a whirlpool, from which they would never again emerge.

Out of frustration, a part wanted that a change should come along, regardless of what it might be, so long as it was a change. They believed that as tarred and burned skeletons, every change would stop the burning a bit. Regrettably the change came: the Germans occupied Poland, with our city in the middle. But instead of putting a stop to the fire, may their names and memories be erased, they made the flames more intense, and entirely incinerated the burned skeletons.

Today, Tomaszow is Judenrein.

[Page 198]

The Jewish Craftsmen

Tomaszow Lubelski was known by its geographical situation – it was encircled by forests – and the sizeable number of shoemakers and barrel makers. Barrel manufacture was purely a gentile trade, while shoemaking was a mixed trade, in which both Jews and gentiles participated in large numbers.

Tomaszow [also] had purely Jewish crafts, such as tailoring, watchmaking; purely gentile trades such as barrel making, black smithing, and mixed trades such as shoemaking and painting.

In passing it is worth taking note of the fact that many of the gentiles in the mixed trades learned their trade from Jews. They first worked as apprentices, and afterwards became independent. The opposite case did not exist.

Each trade separately – whether purely Jewish or in partnership – did not consist of a large number of Jewish craftsmen. The exception was tailoring and shoemaking. These crafts has a proportionally larger number of Jews.

In general, one can say, that “work” was no “boon,” in our city. Despite the fact that the Jewish hand manual tradesmen worked hard, and long hours, (if there was any work to be had) from very early until late in the evening, with only a short recess – the work only paid them back very stingily. This was true even for the really good craftsmen. Their good situation was distinguished by the fact that they lived in a bit of a more decent house by the prevailing Tomaszow standards, dressed a bit better, and ate. Others among them, with more limited skills, would, from time to time have no bread with which to sate themselves. They suffered hunger. Because of the very meager pay for their work, the number of Jewish manual tradesmen did not grow. In some of the trades, the numbers actually shrunk. The grown up children in such families sought something else to learn, or traveled off to the larger cities to find their fortune.

The following two reasons can be enumerated as responsible for the unsatisfactory state of the manual trades:

Reason Number 1: Work had no sort of value. Such an attitude towards work was based on the “philosophy” that the worker does not invest any capital and assumes no risk; the work does not cost the worker any money. He obtains the work without charge. This is the way people thought, and this is the way the workers themselves thought. Reason Number 2: The revenues on which the workers depended, that was around them, the sources, from which they should have been able to draw, were dry. The consequence of this was, that even though the number of manual trades people in the various trades was not large, despite this, the supply was greater than the demand. And as the economic law tells us, when supply exceeds demand. The price of what is being offered –- falls.

The unsatisfactory plight of work did not remain in one place. Specific developments which the times brought along, brought an improvement in the relationship to labor.

The eight-hour day, medical benefits, and other social improvements for the workers, that the P. P. S. pushed through in the Polish Sejm – on one side, and from the other side, the agitation of the Jewish labor parties, such as Poalei-Tzion, Halutzim, Bund, and Jewish professional unions – all of these helped to raise the value of labor.

In this connection, the manual trade union that was established in our city had its role in this matter as well.

[Page 199]

The Bank of the Manual Tradespeople

In hindsight, the bank that was founded by the manual trades was especially important. By providing the tradesman with low interest loans, it made that trades person more able to utilize this facility in worse times.

The bank had other sources of income for enabling a part of the workers to ply their trade on a commercial basis. More about that later. The good tradesmen with independent workplaces were the first to benefit from this improvement. In many instances, they were in better situations than well-situated storekeepers. The pressure of taxes was not as great on them, as was the case with storekeepers.

Poland directed the entire force of taxes onto storekeepers, where the majority of Jews were concentrated. In relation to manual trades, where a smaller proportion of Jews were engaged, the taxes were a bit milder. Then, by not having any goods on display, to which the Tax Authority could easily get access through its executors, this cause them a great deal of blood to be drained, and stormy incidents, to which the storekeeper was exposed. Also, the help that worked there had it better than before. They benefitted from the eight- hour day, and were provided with small social benefits, which in some small measure, made their plight a bit more secure, the important thing being that they had work. The tailors who were not good, for example, had to work for a few groschen for the second-class goods merchants; the mediocre shoemakers had to be satisfied with repair work; the not so skilled among the carpenters had to go running around from house to house to find some bit of work. This also was the general situation for those of limited skill in other trades as well.

“The Little Doctor,” Akizrner-Latshazh at work

The operation gave the owner the opportunity to life a good life and placed him among the ranks of the well-situated.

The local anti-Semites attempted to assault the needle trades. Their first attempt was directed at trying to bring down the tailors for ladies, especially the biggest of them. To accomplish this, these anti-Semites imported a superior Polish ladies tailor from the outside, with apprentices. They opened an operation for him, and helped him with everything that could be done. You can understand that this did nothing for the Jewish tailors. The one obstacle that prevented the Poles from achieving their goal – was the quality of the Jewish work. The Jew was a far superior craftsman to the Pole. Those who wanted their garment to be sewn better went to the Jew, but the augury for the future was serious.

[Page 200]

Shoemakers

Part of the craftsmen linked their work with pre-production. This was especially true of the shoemaking trade. Certain shoemakers, instead of waiting until people would come for a fitting, worked in front of the marketplace. Borrowing money from the trade people's bank, or taking raw materials on credit from the leather maker – they produced their product for the general buyer and brought their products to the market day fair.

Two glaziers and a hatmaker worked on a more business-like basis.

The glaziers primarily committed themselves to work on bigger jobs for larger sums, as, for example, on new houses, offices, and institutions, of when a window pane was of a better quality. They rarely did single, or ordinary windows. They brought the goods directly from the foundry. You can appreciate that by buying on the one hand in larger quantities, it came out cheaper for them. The other glaziers actually bought the glass they needed from them. These two were counted among the people with means.

The hat maker employed several workers in his operation, and worked not only for the [general] buyer at the marketplace, but he also had clients among the small merchants from the surrounding towns.

The hat maker too, was counted among those people with means, in our town.

In connection with craftsmanship: In our town, there were Jewish craftsmen that stood on the highest rung of their craft. They never attended any schools, not even having attended a university, they were, nonetheless, blessed with an inner light, that shined through all the mystique of their chosen craft. Our town had Jewish tailors, whose garments that they created were not only good and comfortable, but seemed as if they had grown right along with the wearer; there were Jewish shoemakers, in whose hands the shoe or slipper was not only roomy and comfortable, but even the appearance of the foot was transformed. The unsightly was made to look beautiful; we had Jewish carpenters who when they installed a door or a window frame, it was not simply installed, but fit into its place like a limb into a body. Our city had Jewish artisans of the kitchen and oven that they made, and graced the house like beautiful pieces of furniture and functioned as it was nature's own handiwork and not something made by man; we had Jewish bakers, whose bread was suffused with taste, savor, better than cake. One could eat it with gusto even when sated. Polish nobles would travel for tens of kilometers to have that bread on their tables. Tomaszow had table turners, with whom engineers and architects would consult in developing a plan and listened to their opinion, as if they were measuring strides.

This is not any kind of exaggeration, but rather a fact. The high class nature of the Jewish craftsmen was an obstacle t the anti-Jewish boycott agitations which the Poles carried out intensively in our city. It was a fact that the Poles who stood at the head of the Anti-Jewish boycott movement – they, themselves, employed Jewish craftsmen. As the economic law says: when one buys something for money, it is not sentiment that decides, only the quality and the price of the item that we buy decides.

[Page 201]

The Spiritual and Religious State of the Jewish Worker

Apart from a professional side, the lives of the craftsmen in our city also had a moral and religious side to it. This was especially true of the one-time craftsman who was a “double house” type (a small shtibl under the same roof with a Bet HaMedrash was called a “double house.” These craftsmen had their minyan there.), to which the painting side belonged:

As was the case in other walks of life, in the Jewish community, among the ranks of the Jewish craftsmen there were those who distinguished themselves in their humanitarian impulses. Except in their case, without the polish of education, and in the range of work-worn hands peeling, sunburned faces, from sun and wind, these impulses had a grace that comes with sincerity. Not being spinners of money, these people, nevertheless, had golden souls, adorned with the fullest ardor to the requirement of others, their need and misfortune.

The same can be said for their wives, who in no way were second to the full-hearted generosity of their men.

The religious life of the Jewish craftsmen was wrapped in a prayer shawl of simple but deep faith.

The Sabbaths and Festivals did not have the drama that distinguished the Hasidic and educated homes. But the Sabbath and Festivals were a period of healing for their exhausted extremities, a balm to their endless weariness, and a joy and hope for their soul. The worn out body, and soul bedeviled with worry awaited the holy days with an extraordinary longing.

The intonation of Gemara study, which was rarely heard in their homes, met up with th sorrowful melody of the recitation of Psalms. Whether alone, or in group prayer, the sound of the Psalms let itself be heard on the Sabbath and Festivals, during the day, after a nap, in the Great Synagogue, where these loyal Jews would gather, mostly craftsmen, and recited the Psalms as a congregation. It was on the verses of the Psalms that these simple Jews would load their fervent beseeching, their suffering and woes, and send them to the Throne of Glory.

In the shadow-filled Gorn-shtibl, which was located on the west side of the synagogue, a part of those who recited the Psalms clamored in a Sabbath festivity by conducting a “Shaleh-shudes,” and singing songs. The Sabbath was moving on, and the pressure of the regular week, with all of its woes and difficulties, swam before the eyes. A unease, and a palpable longing enveloped the mood. The Jews attempted to draw out the Sabbath a bit further, with song. However, suddenly, someone would burst in with a lit candle and exclaim, “Gut Vokh!” This was a command to return to battle. Quickly, the final blessings over the food were recited, and with heavy movements, began to get one's self up from one's place. The evening prayers were recited, and the Havdalah service was performed. The regular week had again taken back its control.

[Page 202]

Youth

The young people, who forsook the ways of their parents, and took up with a variety of parties and ideals, abandoned the entire spiritual baggage, and took from their home only the deep belief in a better time and a strong feeling for justice and truth.

In that corner of Jewish life that was called work, a dim lamp burned. It was this lamp that the Poles set out to extinguish. They did this by passing a registration law. The apparent motivation for this registration law was: to place the craft on a higher plane. The real reason of this law, however, was: to obstruct the path to a craft for a Jew. And it was, indeed, for this purpose that they made use of this registration law. The Jews, who had been practicing their trade for years, and already had their own operations, such Jews without any difficulty were given a “Karta-Rzemieslniecza” (A craftsman's card), which constituted a permission to ply the craft. By contrast, however, when new Jews came to get such a card, even those for whom the trade was a legacy handed down for generations, and who personally had apprenticed for years in plying this craft, they required an examination. However, they made the examination so difficult – understand for Jews – that it was impossible to pass. Very, very rarely did they allow a Jew to pass. And they did this to have a greater temerity to disqualify more Jews.

In the building of labor, there was only one door open to the Jew: the door out. By contrast, the door that enabled qualified people to enter, was made smaller and smaller to the point where it was entirely shut closed.

The closest train station was eight kilometers away from our city. The service that was required – to bring people to the train and back and also to travel to the nearby villages – was provided by Jewish wagon drivers. The wagon drivers used wagons, carriages, and large boxes, tied to one or two horses.

Also for merchandise, whether brought in, or taken out, horse and wagon was used for the largest part. And the majority of those who transported merchandise from various business centers were Jewish wagon drivers. This was especially true, if the destination was far away. The wagon drivers made use of large, strong, rectangular wagons, teamed with two or three horses. They would travel out at the beginning of the week, and return at the end of the week. Their work was really hard labor. And the hard work was accompanied in the summer with stormy rains, and heat, and in the winter with snowstorms and freezing.

It was not rare that the road, just by itself, created difficulties, which demanded a large amount of physical strain and patience. On top of this, they were exposed to life-threatening dangers, traveling through forests and empty roads. With all of this, they would barely be able to get home in time for the Sabbath¼

The previously mentioned difficulties were endured not only by the wagon driver, but also the splinters of Jews that traveled with him also shared in it. Horse and wagon were limited to reach only so far. When the Tomaszow merchants, by their calculation decided to buy goods in further market centers, the goods were brought to the city by the train. The Jewish wagon drivers were entirely bypassed.

[Page 203]

Peasants from the city and surrounding area transported merchandise from the train to the city and also the transport of wood products – such as thresholds, boards and blocks. Jews were not employed in this work. The Jews could not compete with the peasants. The peasant, who had food for himself and his horse from the fields, often needed the money just to buy strong drink. Whatever he earned was sufficient. By contrast, the Jew who needed to earn enough, for himself and his horse, could not survive on such small compensation. In the last years before the war, when circumstances in the Jewish street had become dire, part of the Jewish wagon drivers began to transport wood products and goods, to and from the train. They manages to make something for themselves by carrying double loads, and in this way, ended up hauling more than the horses.

It was not only in Tomaszow, but throughout all of Poland, that the horse and wagon played a meaningful role as a means of transportation. However, with the passage of the years, the automobile began to take the place of the horse and wagon.

Private people – mostly the Jews – were responsible for the mechanization of the transportation between cities and towns. Wherever it was possibly, partnerships “Spolkas” were created which organized for servicing the cities, a mechanized transportation to replace the horses and wagons with freight and passenger automobiles.

By contrast to the horse and wagon, the automobile had unlimited range. It could reach every point in the country.

This attribute was attractive to the merchants, who needed to import from a distance, and export to a distance.

Apart from this, the automobile was convenient for the merchants, since it brought the goods directly to the designated place, overcoming the need for extra time and effort, which could not be avoided by using the train.

It is self-evident, that as far as possible, the merchants utilized the automobile in preference to the train. As related by Sholom Greenwald ע”ה (son of Nathan) who was a bookkeeper in the Tomaszow “Spolka,” the automobile was the cause of large deficits in the train transport sector, which was a governmental enterprise. [Accordingly] large taxes were imposed on the automobiles. On the one hand, they placed very severe limitations on how big a load they could carry, and on the other hand, on the number of passengers. Special squadrons of government people kept watch with regard to these orders. Every transgression, against these decrees, was punishable by a very substantial monetary fine.

Most of these described limitations were of such a nature, that it was impossible to enforce them. The intent of the regulation was not to promote the general interest, but rather to place obstacles, and make the undertaking more difficult, for an enterprise that lay mostly in Jewish hands.

Jews were forced to bribe officials left and right, in order to get through these confining and heavy limitations. The Poles took it like hungry dogs.

Such bribery was only possible by permitting a certain amount of inexactitude in the books. This however, got the owner into trouble with regard to the tax laws, with the result that it placed him in immediate danger of being ruined either economically or physically.

Like a spider spinning her web, so did the Polish government weave a web of regulation to constrict, and

[Page 204]

generally create difficulties, so that the Jewish merchant or owner, was forced to slip and fall into the trap. The government, having the power and the means, was always able to find the opportunity to yank on the string, and in one blow, squash the Jew. [That is] confiscating everything, and threatening arrest. And with this, putting on a sanctimonious face, indicating that this, sadly, is “the law,” and then broke up laughing.

That is what the practice of the Polish government looked like, and the way they practiced in general towards the Jews. The transportation associations were no exception.

In our city, also, such an association was created. After a couple of years, the Polish government liquidated it, and in addition, wanted to put the owner in jail.

A couple of years before the war, several Jews in our city came together to establish a “Spolka,” (Partnership), which deployed a mechanized transportation for passengers and merchandise.

The founders demonstrated great organizational skills. Despite the fact that the business was strange to them, and they didn't have the faintest idea of what it was about – despite this, the enterprise functioned like a machine. It ticked like a clock. Thanks to their skills, and thanks to the fact that the new system served the merchants, the Spolka grew in length and breadth. In a short time, a set number of freight autos was in transit with set schedules, traveling back and forth on a route from Tomaszow to Lemberg on one side, and from Tomaszow to Lublin and Warsaw – and part of the time to Lodz – on the other side. At the same time, passenger service ran three times a day to Lemberg (Lvov), twice a day, except for Saturday and Sunday, to Lublin, and every hour to Zamość – back and forth. Several times a day to the train station in Belzec, apart from that, there were also opportune short hauls for freight autos to a variety of points in the country.

The general populace also benefitted from the Spolka, providing employment partly to Jews and partly to Christians as drivers and helpers. Not counted in this, are all the Poles who had some power and could create difficulties.

The Spolkas existed for a couple of years, As I have already mentioned, this enterprise prospered and grew. On a certain day, in the middle of this prospering and growth – I do not recall if this was a year or more before the war – agents suddenly arrived from the Tax Authority, and with one iron cover, placed an order of confiscation on everything that the Spolka had and owned.

The balebatim who ran it were compelled to hide themselves, because, in addition to this, the regime wanted their bodies and souls.

It was in this manner that Jewish energy, Jewish initiative and intelligence, were robbed and wiped out.

A remnant is, that after the Spolka, there remained two Jews, who were minor partners and helpers. After the liquidation of the Spolka, each separately, with partners negotiated for a freight truck, and carried freight. The principal route was Tomaszow-Lemberg and back.

It is worth telling that one of these two, after the Friday, when the war broke out and spread, made a trip to Lemberg. Coming home, he brought the news that Lemberg had been bombed. Tragically, we did not have to wait long for the German bombs that “visited” us for eight days in a row, bringing death and misfortune to a large number of Jewish victims.

[Page 205]

Foreign Currency Traders

Poland which was lagging in heavy industry, had an overburdened defense budget and conducted its economic politics on a broad anti-Semitic front and for other reasons, suffered from a balance of trade deficit.

As a result of this unsatisfactory balance, and illegal market arose in Poland for foreign exchange, the crown of which was the green American dollar.

The driving force of this trade were the following reasons and causes: Lack of faith. The populace lost its faith in its own currency, and those, who had the means to save – instead of putting their savings in the bank to earn interest – preferred to buy dollars to preserve the worth that they had achieved. The same was done by those who sold off a significant thing, such as an inherited asset.

Some factories, whose functioning was dependent on certain chemical substances, or machine parts, which could only be procured out of the country, needed foreign currency. The only source of this was the black market.

It was not rare that either a medicine, or a vaccine, was needed that Poland did not have. In such an instance, it was also necessary to have recourse to the black market.

Where were the sources that provided the nourishment to the black market in the form of foreign currency?

The principal channel, which put up the foreign currency, was the support that kinfolk in foreign lands (mostly from America) sent to their relatives in Poland.

These relatives, either came themselves, or provided [the currency] through friends, who came to visit their relatives and bring assistance.

There were also instances when dollars, which came in from the sale of something, or from savings, and were laying inactive, coursed through the market. Such an instance occurred when a transaction of some sort took place, and there was a requirement for zlotys.

Our city was no exception in this respect, and about ten people (families) were engaged in foreign exchange business.

The buying or selling of dollars by the populace can be divided into two categories: a positive one, and a negative one. In this regard, a positive transaction can be viewed as one where dollars were purchased out of savings, and also to be covered by merchandise. And further selling: when it had to do with a business transaction. By contrast, what can be considered negative, is the sale of dollars which were received in the form of assistance, simply for bread. And buying again: when it was done in order to pay off a debt, or to be able to access a medicine.

What this meant in connection with the Jewish populace of our city: simply a small group which consisted of the head s of a couple of specific industries, transacted with the foreign exchange traders on the positive side, and in hindsight, the tailoring sector stood out in this regard. Apart from the largest firm, those who occupied a middle position, also had the means to access foreign exchange in a positive manner.

[Page 206]

By contrast, the remaining Jewish populace, which was unemployed, without income, and lived under frightful circumstances, their access to the foreign exchange traders was all of a negative character. The large majority of them never even saw a dollar, or other foreign currency.

With regard to the foreign exchange traders themselves: they did not make out badly. For the simple reason that the business was illegal. And that which is illegal has only risks, but no expenses.

Meat butchering was the occupation of 35 families, which was a family trade with them. They provided the city with kosher and non-kosher meat (there was not a gentile butcher in the city. Because of the cheap price for meat that was declared to be trayf after an inspection for kashrut, it was not worth running a gentile butchery. It was only later, thanks to a slaughtering regulation, and also thanks to the propaganda to liberate one's self from Jewish intermediation, a small, minimally configured, Christian butchery opened).

Like the others, this industry, while small, divided itself along three principal classes: the wealthy, the middle class, and the poor.

The number of wealthy was a rather small number. It consisted of only a couple of individuals. The wealthy, however, had guests. This gave them the means to enjoy a satisfying opportunity, if such came to pass, that apart from having money, they could buy a couple of cattle from a nobleman, or a well-to-do peasant.

Such transactions stood out by their rarity, with a low price, such as was the case in the marketplace, especially when the seller needed money.

As is understood, it was only the very rich who played the principal role in this industry. Two of this group supplied the garrison, which was stationed in the city, with meat. What is easy to imagine, is that supplying meat was not based simply on the good relations for the garrison. It also depended on the fat bribes that had to be passed around all about. Having the garrison as a client, first and foremost, had the benefit of providing a way to off-load the heavy inventories of meats that were declared to be not kosher. The people from this class not infrequently made use of hired help. The help was of a transient character. There were also two of this group who employed one or two people on a steady basis.

The middle class was larger in number, that the rich, but of more limited financial means. Those that had “guests” applied their capital for only one animal. Others, by contrast, needed to pool their funds in partnership, in order to be able to buy an animal.

The people from this group did all of the work, that was required, by themselves. Rarely did they utilize paid help. Their livelihood gave them moments of plenty and others of want: it was a festive occasion if the animal turned out to be kosher. In that instance, the father would also allow himself a bit of whiskey for the Sabbath. The mother would “grab a little” for the children, or for herself, or really, for the house. And the opposite was true, if the animal proved to be unkosher, the state of mind was one of distress, and of being defeated.

The fact that the output of the slaughtering operation mirrored the mood of the business of these folk, can give a grasp of their financial situation.

The people in the poor class, though large in number, played a rather small role in this industry. They,

[Page 207]

themselves, did not slaughter the animals, and if it happened that one or another of them sold meat, it was taken by others. A few sought to eke out a groschen by buying a calf in a village, or in the marketplace, and sell it to those who performed the slaughter by themselves.

This group was the one that provided the people who assisted the larger operators by servicing the live animals, and performing other functions.

This area of endeavor, just like the other Jewish means of making a living, had only a couple of individual substantive and robust offshoots – by Tomaszow standards – only a couple of positions that had a solid base. The other positions, the rest of the industry, were withering leaves. Some more so, and some less so.

In general, this branch was in sharp decline, with signs of getting smaller and shrinking.

The process of impoverishment, that engulfed the Jewish populace for a variety of reasons – whether for objective or anti-Semitic reasons -- shrunk the circle of those who could afford to buy meat, which cost a lot and was simply a luxury. And this in turn, naturally, had the consequence of reducing the possibility of making a living in this field. At the same time, the assaults made by the Poles against Jewish sources of income, did not pass the butchers by, and also destabilized their positions.

Under these circumstances, even without the intervention of outside forces, this sector went into contraction and reduction.

For the Poles, however, this was a long drawn out process, and in order to speed up the process, the instituted a slaughtering regulation. The regulation came into force in 1936.

The slaughtering regulation, which limited the number of cattle that could be slaughtered according to Jewish ritual, shrunk the extent of this source of livelihood with one blow, making it tight and difficult.

The truth is, that it did not impact the wealthy too much, but it did affect them. Because those, who derived more from this, received less; those who had little – got even less, and further, those who had only a little bit – were entirely pushed out.

The people from the poorer class attempted to get something from this denouement by means of illegal slaughter, but this didn't get very far, because kosher meat must be from a slaughter that is not distressed, meaning that the slaughter must be legal. And seeing that the Jews of Tomaszow were extremely particular with regard to kashrut, such meat simply did not sell.

The slaughtering regulation filled the Poles with a great deal of satisfaction. They were dominated by a sense of triumph, as if they had won a great war. Madame Pristerawa, who stood at the very head of the regulation initiative, became a national heroine. The Jews, however, felt that an anti-Semitic storm had severely bent the Jewish ship on its side.

Whether it was the unloading of merchandise brought in, or loading of merchandise to be sent out, and also the transfer of a variety of loads from one place to another – this work was done by Jewish hands and backs. The people were called porters.

[Page 208]

In Tomaszow, the porters were divided into two groups. One group worked exclusively with merchandise, encompassing all kinds of merchandise; the second group dealt with the various loads that happen to be available on that day.

The latter group were assisted by horse and wagon, because part of the heavy items needed to be brought to a point that was distant, and it was impossible to carry on one's person/ For the same reason, the flour merchants made use of them, in transferring flour from the mill, which stood at the edge of the city, to the food stores and bakers. They also transported loam and sand needed to erect or repair ovens and kitchens. Like beasts of burden, these Jews worked hard, and lived a meager life, but being happy paupers.

A larger number of families were involved in the first group, that loaded merchandise, than in the second group. They were united in a partnership. They only accepted those into the partnership that had a franchise as a porter, and at the same time, the partnership did not permit any outside person to break into their area. There were instances, when part of the Jews, that lost their livelihood, and having nothing else to do, attempted to become porters. The partners, however, did not allow them to do this.

Such a posture on their part was justified by the fact that if everyone was permitted to participate, no one would make anything from it.

Regarding the people in this group, it can be said that they left their mark on the profession – every one of them put himself forward, and was thought of that way by others, as a professional porter. At the same time, these people made the existence of their group felt around and about.

Their relationship to the storekeepers was such, that they made portage service was a process that merchandise must go through. All merchandise had to go through their service at set process.

For some storekeepers, such a regulation was a burden. Their stores did not function based on service, and the price they had to pay the porters was – no matter how small that price would be – a critical part of their earnings. Such storekeepers, to the extent possible, did their own portage work. The porters from the partnership, however, guarded their livelihood 24 hours a day, to detect when something would come up for them to do, and every night a different one had the watch.

What did the internal workings of the partnership look like?

Even though the external appearance of the way they practiced portage service consisted of a solid base, the relationship among them, however, inside the partnership, stood on a very high moral plane.

Each of the partners received an equal share of the earnings that the day brought in. One might contribute more, one less – the one who worked more and harder (there were among them stronger and weaker ones), and the one who worked less and easier – all received the same. When it happened that God forbid, one got sick, he received his entire share during the entire period of his illness. And when it came to work, each of them sped to work with their entire interest, as if it were for their own personal benefit. Whether they had already worked, or had not worked [that day] at all, they undertook their labor with the same enthusiasm. In this way, the strong would have no pretensions about having worked harder, and the one who had worked more, would have no pretensions about having worked more. The atmosphere among them was as if they were one family.

[Page 209]

From the standpoint of income, the porters in the partnership had it better than the porters from the other group, despite the heavy labor only provided them with a meager living, which did not pass the low standard of living of the poor Jewish working masses in Tomaszow. Despite this, their situation was a better one than that of others. Every day brought the certainty of some earnings. It was as if it were guaranteed.

The income of these porters depended entirely on Jews. They traveled in the same boat as the Jewish merchant and storekeeper. So long as that ship was upright on the flat sea, even if the wind bent it and the waves buffeted it, they also survived. A the moment that the ship capsized, which was very near – then the porters would go down with it as well. As a matter of principle, the Polish merchants did not give Jewish porters access to work.

The life of the porters, and especially the ones in the partnership, did not consist of only one dimension, of the low form that circles about the business and natural functions. It also had a higher dimension, which was studded with the more refined undertakings, with the instruments that ignite feelings from outside influences, and create psychological situations, gestating ideas and formulating psychological postulates. It will not be superfluous to tell about part of the activities of this higher dimension among the porters, because certain specific ideas, that stuck to many of them, and psychological postulates that developed among them, had an influence on decisions in boisterous and unexpected situations, that the stormy and tragic time created, but unfortunately most of the decisions were fatal. Part of the porters, especially the ones who set the tone, were not satisfied with their profession, which provided only a meager income, and a low social position. The lot that had been dealt to them in general life, in their eyes looked like an injustice. Such a line of thought, naturally, carried with it a certain amount of resentment and pretensions. The left wing parties played a great part in inflating such feelings. These parties held up society as the culprits in the pathetic state of the poor Jewish masses. As a natural consequence, the hearts and hopes of the dissatisfied porters, right along with the other dissatisfied, were bound to left wing parties, who promised them a new social order, not only a larger part of the material assets, for the struggling masses, but also a respectable place of social importance.

Like the simple Jews that they were, they believed that life was also simple. Life is like a train: it depends on which end of the train you put the locomotive. And at each end, where the locomotive is not attached, are the cars that stand near it – the first, and the others – at the rear. The same is true of life: if the locomotive of life were only to be put near the poor, struggling masses, they will be in the front, and others – in the rear.

In the meantime, however, the dissatisfied porters were jealous of the storekeepers, and looked upon them as a higher and privileged class. It is worth noting the fact, that this attitude was not one-sided: many of the storekeepers did not envy the porters any less. Many, because of the fact, that the porters simply earned more; many for the fact that despite the fact that their work was heavy, and their lives poor, ate their bread in peace; fear and trembling in anticipation of executors did not drive off their sleep, and their Sabbath was not disrupted by difficulties that had arrived, and difficulties that could be anticipated.

These were things that many storekeepers wished to have, but did not have.

In passing, it is worth remarking that, in general, the music played as follows on the crowded Jewish street in Tomaszow: One was jealous of the next person. Everybody was missing something important, for which he had a reason to be jealous of someone else.

Life would sometimes play a trick with people, sometimes in a brutal fashion: That thing that was ardently sought after and longed for, life suddenly hands to the person right into his hand; but it delivers it on a hot

[Page 210]

tray, and he must throw the tray and the item away, being left with a severe burn. A similar instance happened to those who lived through waiting for great fortune to come from a socialist system.

On the eve of Sukkot 1939, following the treaty with the Germans ימ”ש who occupied Tomaszow, the Russians came to us to become the rulers of our city. They arrived like an inundation. Camps of a variety of military troops and armor fell upon us like a funeral cortege. The Russians were in Tomaszow for eight days, turning over – again according to an agreement – our city back to the Nazis ע"ה. However, during this short time, the Russians conducted a massive recruiting initiative to get people to travel to Russia to live and work there.

Those who truly believed in this, which they had read or heard, saw in this opportunity to voyage to Russia an act as if the heaven had bent down to bring this to them, which is what they had requested. And those among them, for whom family separation or other obstacles did not stand in their way, went off happily. Among those who undertook this voyage were also some of the previously mentioned porters. Arriving there, though, and seeing the bride in her real form, the people became very disappointed. The greater the expectation, the more intense and bitter the disappointment. And those who promised themselves a great deal – utilized their first opportunity and traveled back home immediately. Tragically, they fled the rain right into the fire. The Germans ימ”ש incinerated them right along with all the rest of the Jews.

It is entirely possible, that had the people who had traveled back home, not expected so much, it could have been that they might have lived through the war, albeit under very bad circumstances. It was a fact, that a certain percentage of Polish Jews, that the war storm blew into Russia – whether accidentally or on purpose – survived the war.

The instruments, that Death put to use in Russia, were the elemental natural forces such as epidemics, hunger, cold and other misfortunes of nature. The one, who had some luck, managed to avoid the nets spread by these forces, or managed to blunder through when he fell victim to them – that was the one who managed to last to the end of the war. It was otherwise in Poland. There, people – Germans and Poles – were the agents of death. They saw to it that no one would wriggle out of their hands.

As has already been mentioned, only a few of the porters from the partnership group had their sentiments on the side of the left-wing parties. The rest consisted of simple and poor Jews. They envied, and desired to taste that which in their eyes seemed to bring good fortune and honor. At the same time, in giving themselves an accounting, they saw that there were worse levels to occupy.

In order to assure that conditions not worsen, God forbid, and only improve, most of this group on the Sabbath and Festivals, were among those who participated in communal recitation of the Psalms in the Great Synagogue. These same Jews, right along with other decent and pious Tomaszow Jews, did not want to believe that people could be worse than beasts And would kill other human beings purely to satisfy their sadistic lust for killing and torturing. This bloody truth, tragically, they would come to learn with their own lives, which the brutes cut down through cremation or other frightful means. The brutes – the Germans with the Poles – carried out this bloody butchery with glee, cutting sown the God-fearing and the righteous. Mat God avenge their innocent blood.

 Yizkor Book Project    JewishGen Home Page  

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 17 Mar 2023 by JH