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The flood occurred on a summer day, at two o'clock, in 1927. Kalman Krosman^[1] (several years later, my husband) was busy with his work every day in the chocolate factory of his brother-in-law and sister Sura (or, as she was called in the city, Surake). Both Kalman and his brother-in-law Zaduk were busy pouring out the liquid chocolate into the forms. This work had to be done very quickly and nimbly because the chocolate immediately cooled and nothing more could be made with it. It could not be warmed again because it lost its form and taste.

While so engrossed in the work, the heaven suddenly clouded over. It became dark, actually impenetrable darkness. Lightning and thunder began.

Rain suddenly flowed from heaven – a real flood. They looked outside and saw before them only water and water. An ocean! The water began to flow into the factory. They did not think of ending their work. Now there were important things to do. They had to save whatever they could. The poured and finished chocolate lay high up, on shelves, but there was a large amount of goods lying on the floor. But the water was flowing wildly into the factory. There could no longer be any talk of saving anything. Now they had to save their own lives and very quickly because it could be too late.

The factory then was in Tseli's son Shmuel's house that stood near the river. Therefore, the factory was the first to experience the flooding and was ruined.

When the rains stopped and the water receded, we could look at the factory. Here we saw the ruin that the flood had created. Surake and Zaduk Lewengrub, who had worked their way up a bit, were poor people after the flood, because a warehouse full of goods and raw materials worth thousands of zlotes had gone with the water.

It is clear that this flood in Krasnik more than 40 years ago brought the collapse of the entire city, particularly in the quarter that was closest to the river or lay in the lower areas. For many years, the Jewish as well as the Christian residents of the city spoke of this catastrophe and repeated again the details of this event.

On one of the streets of the shtetl

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Krasnik was a strongly orthodox shtetl [town]. However, in 1905, when a revolutionary spirit enveloped all of Russia, it also moved us. The workers demanded an eight-hour workday because the tailors, the shoemakers and the harness makers worked from seven in the morning until 10 at night. They even had to work on the evening of Shabbos so that their boss would not have a loss in his business because they did not work on Shabbos. A committee was created then (they were called the strikers) of the brothers Anshel and Getsl Krumhalc, Tova Shmuel, Yitzhak's son, Shual, Beka's son (I do not remember his family name) and a brother of Meir Lamkut (Trik), who the Russians shot in 1914 when the war broke out. Several master craftsmen immediately gave in after other committee members, whose names no one can remember, demanded an eight-hour workday. In contrast, fights took place with those who did not give in and the journeymen were forced to stop all work – until they achieved better conditions for the workers. However, this did not last long. When the reaction increased and the first Duma was dissolved, the czarist regime began to attack the leaders of the workers' movement and began to arrest everyone who fell under suspicion. Many escaped to America and other nations and many were arrested.

Anshel Krumhalc sat for a time in jail as did Fayga, the polisher's daughter. Later they got married.

Thus the shtetl again fell asleep and the mothers still hoped that their sons would grow up to be great men of learning. And thus it was. When one passed the house of prayer, it was filled the entire day with young men who sat at very large tables and studied. The shtiblekh [small one-room houses of prayer] also were full of young men oyf kest [the expenses of a young man who was engaged in religious study were paid by his father-in-law]: in Lubliner shtibl, in the Modzitzer [from Modrzyce], in the Gerer, as well as the Markuszower shtibl.

We remember my grandfather Moshe, son of Eli, may he rest in peace, who taught Ein Yakov [compilation of Talmudic commentaries and ethical teachings] every Shabbos in the large house of prayer for a large group. Fraydele's son, Reb Avrahamli Leibush, of blessed memory, also studied on Shabbos with a large group in the new house of prayer. Thus, the shtetl lived its strictly religious life. There was no modern education. Josele Lerer [teacher], Borukh Shreiber [writer]^[1] as well as Yakov Hirsh taught writing. They taught the boys and girls to write Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, Russian and German. Thanks to the teachers many boys and girls perfected their worldly education and later helped to create the various organizations in the shtetl. This is how life went on until the First World War.

1914 was a year of crisis in our shtetl. When the war broke out, many young men left in the Russian army. Women and children were left without their husbands and fathers. Thanks to the charitable organizations the shtetl helped them greatly. From Russia, the Jewish

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committee sent in flour and other products that alleviated the need a little.

Our shtetl survived one of the greatest tragedies when the Russian government carried out strongly anti-Semitic agitation: The Austrians occupied Krasnik immediately at the outbreak of the war. The Russians returned after 17 days and immediately took six Jews and five Poles and shot them in Majdan. (Of the five Jews I remember only the name Meir Lamhut). This was too little; they then took the rabbi of the city, Reb Motil, of blessed memory, and Reb Ayzyk Fishl Ciesler, of blessed memory, as well as Reb Hirshl the butcher and his son, Reb Shmuel – and they were all hung. One can imagine the fear that fell on the shtetl. A Jew simply was afraid to appear in the street. They remained in fear until the middle of 1915 when our shtetl was rid of the cruel czarist regime. Austria occupied Poland. Many young people in the Austrian army brought a new life to the Krasnik young.

The building and organization of a workers movement began, as well as a Jewish people's library with many Yiddish books. A drama circle was founded at the library that produced plays. I will remember several names of those who took part in the founding of the library: Yitzhak Perlson, Hirsh Gryner, Shmilik Brafman, Yehiel Moshe and Yisroel-Avraham Blada, Shlomo Licht, Yakov Wagner, Anshel Krimholc, Yakov Ayzyk's son, Levi Butner, Avraham Szafran, Royza Wagner, Zajnwel Diament, Eli Perlson, Yehezkiel Gerereich and many others whose names I do not remember. Thus began the widespread cultural work and communal life. The Zionist winds began to blow with the proclamation of the Balfour Declaration. The first Zionist organization was founded in Krasnik. The mentors were the first 13 young people who publicly declared themselves as open Zionists, which was a daring step because at that time the Zionist idea was a great heresy for the Orthodox Jews. However, the young people already had been infected with the national ideal. They were persecuted in the shtetl. But they did not stop for anything and carried on campaigning for Zionism. In a short time a divided Zionist family developed: general Zionists, Revisionists, Gordynia, Poalei-Zion, Tseiri-Zion and others.

The Bund arose later as well as a communist organization. Just as it was a “sleepy” shtetl earlier, it now became progressive and cultural.

It is worth remembering the names of the first young people: Avraham Hercl, Avraham Baumfeld, Mordekhai Buchbinder, Chaim Kliczewski, Yitzhak Buchbinder, Eli Perlson, Yosef Helman, Avraham Mandelblat, Moshe Lang, Shlomo Nusan Licht, Kopl Kamaznmacher, Borukh Foygl.

Change came with the rise of an independent Poland. Many young people left for the Polish military; for many there arose the problem of survival because the anti-Semitic government killed Jewish income and the duties (taxes) grew heavier. The class-conscious young people realized that there were no economic opportunites and began to think of emigrating.

The shtetl prepared itself for the God-fearing day! Berl Szulklaper [one who bangs on the shutters of houses to rouse men for prayer] called sleeping Jews in the morning to wake up for prayer, particularly during the holy Selikhot [days on which prayers of repentance are recited before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur] days, when those in the houses of prayer learned [to blow] the shofar [ram's horn] and every Jew was imbued with a feeling of regret for the sins committed during the entire year.

Jews woke up for Selikhot. It was light in all of the houses of prayer at three in the morning

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from the extra bright oil lamps. Leibush Fintali, the shamas [sexton], made sure that there was enough light and provided more tallow candles so that Jews could pray for a healthy, happy year. This is the way it was in the large synagogue as well as in all of the shtiblekh [small one-room synagogues]. Reb Shlomo Eiger, of blessed memory, then still came to the Lubliner shtibl for the first penitential prayers.

The entire shtetl went to Rebbe, Reb Yakov Wajsbrot, who was the head of the rabbinical court and the grandson of the Yid Hakodosh [“The Holy Jew” – Yakob Yitzhak Rabinowicz, founder of the Peshischa Hasidim] on the evening of Rosh Hashanah, to receive a blessing for a Shona Tovah [happy new year]. Everyone was certain that he would have a good year because on the first night of Rosh Hashanah the rebbe presided over a meal and [provided new interpretations].

However, the most important experience was when the Jews went to Tashlik. Every minyon [group of ten men needed for prayer] went to the river near Meir Szapiro's [house] and threw away their sins. The shtetl looked like a purely Jewish one, particularly when the rebbe left for Tashlikh. All of the Jews joined the holy rebbe on the way from Rachiwer Road to the mill and sang for the entire time. There was so much joy and faith among the Hasidim and ordinary Jews that we were sure that in merit of the holy rebbe we were sure of a healthy year and we would be forgiven for all of our sins thanks to the emptying of our pockets and throwing our sins in the water. Even a Christian, Janek Patocki, a fervent Hasid [follower, used ironically here] of the rebbe, was among the group. On Rosh Hashanah, when the rebbe walked with his Hasidim, the majority of whom were shoemakers, tailors and simple Jews, Janek walked in front, dancing with all of the Jews and thus made sure that they would not be attacked by any of the anti-Semites…

On Jamy Street, stooped, small houses stood for hundreds of years. Moss was growing on their roofs for a long time. It could no longer be distinguished if a roof was made of shingles or of straw. Jews lived through a difficult winter every year, but fortunately spring appeared and the snow had melted by Purim. It became warm in the shtetl. The great mud on Jamy Street began to dry. Passover arrived. Jews whitewashed their old, half fallen down houses and Passover was celebrated according to Jewish law.

At the end of Passover, on Friday, the Jews still ate matzoh because there was no time to bake challahs [braided bread served at Sabbath meals] for Shabbos. Old Mordekhai-Yehiel, who bought and sold wheat near the synagogue with windows facing the old cemetery, had a basement full of wheat that he had recorded as khometz [unfit for use on Passover]. He lit a kerosene lamp at night so the cat would be able to see and to catch the mice. When Mordekhai-Yehiel began to say the blessing, he was warned that smoke was coming from the warehouse. His answer was: “No need to stop.” In the course of five minutes, the entire house was enveloped in flames. It is possible that one could still have saved something. I think it was Shabbos and Jews were not permitted to take any water to stop the fire. In an hour, the fire encompassed 400 old, dried up houses and devoured the entire little bit of poverty – from Moshe-Ahron Malamed [the religious teacher] to Leizer Muncik-Hersh. When Reb Shlomole Eiger, who later became the Lubliner rebbe, came running from the farm and called, “Jews, help, why are you standing? It is to save a mortal life!” And to Motl Zemelman (Bulak) who was then a water carrier, he said: “Why are you standing? Harness the horses!” And when Motl did not want to, Shlomole Eiger led the horses out of the stall himself. Then Motl finally moved toward the horses and Jews, after working the entire night put out the fire…

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The reason that I was forced to leave my birthplace, Krasnik, (in 1925) was thus:

I owned a confectionary shop and also traveled to yearly fairs. The last time, I went to Mendrewic with a cousin, Chaim Dovid Wajnsztok. Arriving, I saw an attack against the cloth goods merchants. When I went to see what was happening, a terrible picture was revealed before my eyes: the peasants were robbing and beating the Jews who were not allowing their goods to be taken. All of the goods were taken from Mendl Mushl and, in addition, he was beaten terribly.

At that time the priests preached in the churches that the Jews be persecuted and their possessions taken. My cousin and I quickly went home. My wife asked why I had come home so early from the fair, was the income that good? I answered that there was no lack of anything, that we came without goods, without money and in addition with broken heads. I told her what had happened there.

We immediately telephoned Lublin for help. However, there was not yet an autobus in Mendrewic. It was more than two hours before the police came riding from Lublin and meanwhile they fought there. With luck, there were such Jews as Gecel and Anshel who took a bit of revenge against the violent ones.

That evening I said to my wife: – I am leaving for Paris in the morning. Because of what I saw today, I no longer want to be in anti-Semitic Poland.

As good as my word, I traveled to Warsaw the next day. As I did not have any money and no passport, I worked in Warsaw for eight days for expenses to be able to travel to Vienna, the capital city of Austria, where I arrived Friday. At night I went to pray in the Polish synagogue. There I met a young man who arranged for a room for me to sleep in. In the morning I left for the synagogue and met an older Jew. One word led to another – and I worked for him for six months – and with luck, could travel to Paris.

After my departure from Krasnik, the real immigration began. My three cousins and many others emigrated to Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and to other countries. Thanks to emigration, a few Jews from our Krasnik remained alive.

A Story of a Dowry

This happened when I was 12 years old. At that time, when parents had daughters, they also had to have dowries. This was a big problem for poor parents.

I will not mention the names of people; they have been in the other world for a long time. The young man was from another shtetl [town]. A matchmaker made the match. We wrote a contract of engagement. The time of the wedding was chosen – and my father promised a dowry of 75 rubles that would be deposited with Reb Leibish, Nata's son, with the provision that the money would be given to the groom on the day of the wedding.

Time passed. The day of the wedding arrived.

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A Sunday. Leibish Nata's son would usually travel to Lublin to buy goods for the Krasnik merchants twice a week (Sunday and Tuesday). Meanwhile, the [guests] came to the wedding. The klezmer [musicians] were playing. They were preparing for the khupah [the wedding canopy signifying the wedding ceremony]. The groom asked: “Where is the dowry?” They went to Leibish who had left. The groom said: “I am not going to the khupah if I do not receive the dowry.” The bride's brother came running to our house and said the groom does not want to go to the khupah without the dowry. My mother did not know what to do. I said to my mother: “I will go to Dovid Khohan. He does business with my father. His children know me well. I would buy things there.” Said is done. I went to Reb Dovid Khohan and told him what had happened and I asked him for help. Dovid Khohan looked at me and said: “You truly are a smart girl. However, I cannot give you any money… I will give you a written paper for the groom to come tomorrow. I will give him the money and when your father^[1] comes from Lublin, he will give it back to me.”

…the groom went to the khupah!

This happened in 1907 when I already was a young wife and my husband had emigrated to America. It was the last day of Passover. A Friday. It should be understood that we were preparing the holiday cholent [stew cooked overnight for eating on Shabbos] for Shabbos. Mordekhai Yehiel, the grain merchant, lived on Yami Street. He kept the grains in a small room as well as a cat to guard against mice and rats. A kerosene lamp burned in the room. It happened that the cat threw over the lamp – and a fire began to burn. Just then Yankl the tailor walked by and he saw the fire through the window. He entered the room to put out the fire. However, the fire spread through the wooden houses. I was with my mother–in–law, a little distance from the fire. I ran over to my parents. My father sat with the boys and sang Shabbos melodies. I said: father, the fire is near our house already. He and other people pulled out the beds, table and benches and they left for the street. An hour later, my father's house and everything around it had burned. The fire began to approach nearer to the synagogue. Reb Shlomola Eiger, Dovid Khonen and several other Jews crawled on the roof of the synagogue and put out the fire with pots of water and wet rags. They actually saved the synagogue. The great ruins first were seen when the fire ended. People lay on the old cemetery, in front of the hill; they had run there from the fire. Parents searched for children; children looked for parents. A daughter cried: “Mama where are you?' The mother answered: “I am here, at the cemetery.” The daughter cried: “Lay there, Mama!”

People wandered around the entire night, crying. There was no place to lay their heads. It also was a great miracle that the fire began before nightfall. If it had happened two hours later, God forbid, hundreds of people would have been burned together with their houses. In addition, Shlomole Eiger, Dovid Khonen and others did not say, “It is Shabbos,” but rushed to save the shtetl.

It was a sad Shabbos. The poor were broken. Several families were stuffed into one apartment. I was with my in–laws. A year later, I already was in the “golden land,” where at first I also did not have a place to lay my head.

My husband had to appear for the Russian draft in 1906. He would have certainly been taken because he was healthy. But my father–in–law was acquainted with the authorities. He “greased their palms” with 50 rubles. [My husband] was given a green “card” until next year.^[2] I already had a daughter over two years old. Meanwhile, a year passed; my husband had to appear again… My father–in–law

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again paid a bribe; [my husband] again received a green card. However, there are people who begrudge: of course, that my son was taken and Shmuel Lederfeld, such a healthy man, was freed? – So he was denounced. An official of the authorities was supposed to tell my father–in–law immediately – and my husband had to escape. He left for Zawichost in the middle of the night. His family hid him for a while; then they made sure that he sneaked across the border and he left for America. He arrived in 1907, during the greatest crisis in the country. And my husband – without money, without a trade, took advice and did various work to earn a little bit of dry bread.

Now began the hardships – as is said among the Jews – if hardship is fated, it enters the house. A year passed. 1908. My husband earned little, barely supporting himself, so he could not send anything to me. True, we lacked for nothing. I went to work with a seamstress and earned enough for myself. I lived with my father–law and mother–in–law. God helped and my husband's cousin in Zawichost, whose husband already had been in America for several years, was sent ship tickets to come with her six–year old son. She came to Krasnik to say goodbye to my father and mother–in–law and said to my father–in–law: “Uncle, Baylele should travel with me to America.” My father–in–law answered: “How can she go; she does not have any money!” The cousin said: “If she has 100 rubles, I will lend her what is lacking.”

When I heard this, I was as happy as an old girl who had lived for the day when she put on a wedding dress. I began to kiss her in joy because who could think of such good fortune that I was going to travel to America – to my husband, to be together with our child. Of course, I did not give a thought to whether my husband already was earning a living, to whether he could rent an [apartment].

The cousin said goodbye. We agreed to meet in two weeks in the border city. She went back to Zawichost and I began to sell all of my things for half price. I already had more than 100 rubles. The two weeks were like two years to me. However, the day arrived; I began to say goodbye to friends, sisters and brothers, my parents – and I sent a telegram to the cousin. My father took me to the train. We said goodbye with kisses and tears.

I finally left. I arrived in the shtetl, entered the office and asked, where is Mrs. Rotman? They answered me that she already had been here and had left for Myslowice, from where one travels to the ship. I stood there desperate; what do I do? The man told me: “Take the train and travel there, perhaps you will still meet her.” I went to the train – and we go. A gendarme sat near me. We stopped at the station; the gendarme said to me: “Come with me.” He led me to a long table; many men were sitting there. One said: “Mrs. Lederfein, she needs to pay two rubles.” He answered, “For what? He answered that I had not traveled on the correct train. I cried and pleaded, scarcely having borrowed a ruble. They showed me the correct train. I traveled to Myslowice. People in the thousands ran. Young, old, with children and packages.

Suddenly I saw the cousin's son. I ran to him and asked: “Motele, where is your mother.” He answered: “She will be here soon.” She did arrive. I thought that an angel had appeared. But before I said a word, she immediately said, “Bayele, I suffer badly that I cannot help you. I had to pay for many things and have no money.” And she climbed into the train that led to the ship.

I remained standing, embittered, but I accepted it with courage and returned to Oswiecim. I entered the office and asked: how much would a ship ticket cost? The answer was that I needed 38 rubles more. What would I do?

The man said to me: “You have parents at home; write a letter to them. Tell them

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what your cousin did to you. They will probably help you.”

I wrote the letter to my father, not with ink, but with bloody tears: “I do not know what I will do if the money is not sent to me… I do not want to return home. I have sold everything; I would be ashamed to lift my head.”

The truth was that my father could not help me. But I thought a father is a father. However, until the letter arrived there and an answer could be returned would take a little time.

Meanwhile, I still needed to buy something for me and my child to eat… and my husband did not know if I was on my way or if I was still in Krasnik. When the letter arrived [from my father] with the 38 rubles, I went to the office to pay – and I was short two rubles. I remained speechless. The official said to me – “Go to the city. You will go to the rabbi; tell him everything and he will help you with the two rubles.”

I took my child and trudged through the streets, hills and ditches. I was finally in the city. I entered the rabbi's house; he was not there. I went to the shamas [synagogue sexton] and told him that I needed two rubles to pay for a ship ticket. He gave me several groshn. I thanked him and dragged myself back to the office hungry and weary. I laid down everything I had. The man looked at me with such pity and said that I still needed 30 more kopikes. Tears began to pour from my eyes like water. I went out; I stood leaning against the wall. A man came out, a stuffed German. He looked at me with a smile and asked why I appeared so thoughtful? I told him my troubles that, I lacked 30 kopikes to pay for the ship ticket. He answered that such a beautiful young woman does not need to worry about such a small sum – and he made a proposal to me… When I heard this, I screamed and broke into heart–rending tears. My child looked at me and cried, too. The German saw that he had touched a very fragile string and he apologized, gave me his card – I should go into the city and to his business. I would be helped. I took my child, trudged there, showed the card – and I was given several coins.

I went back to the office and I paid – thank God – I had a ship ticket.

My husband already knew that I was coming to America. My cousin had told him. But he did not rejoice because he still did not have enough to support himself. I was sitting at the station and waiting for the train that would take me to the ship. I remembered that when I was a young girl, my mother sent me to the poor houses to bring them fish and a challah for Shabbos. Now I was a wife with a girl at my side – and again I went to the houses to ask for donations for myself. How a life can play comedies and tragedies…

Finally, the train arrived and we traveled to the ship. When the train stopped at the station, women came out with baskets of rolls and bottles of milk asking everyone if they wanted something. Of course, I immediately took rolls and milk and my child and I quieted our hunger.

So we were finally on the boat that began to rock and shake. People lay passed out, but my child and I just felt good. It was our luck that people gave me bread and wurst because I just ate roasted potatoes and herring on the boat. A storm began several days later. I took my large Korban Minkhah Siddur [a prayer book often given to a bride as a gift by her groom] and recited Psalms. I asked God that after so much torment, I be allowed to live to arrive in America.

Thank God, we already were on Ellis Island – I did not think that new troubles would first start. They let my husband know that he should come for us. He did not

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not possess a penny. He borrowed a dollar from a landsman [someone from the same town]. When he came, he stood at the gates – and I and our child were on the other side.

I said to my child: “You see, the man who is standing there is your father…” She answered: “He is not a father; he does not have a beard…” Finally we came together with kisses and tears.

We arrived at a house. My husband bought a bread, shmaltz [chicken fat], herring and a piece of butter. He led me into the room of a landsman. I stood there unable to speak: three small rooms, three children and a poverty that looked out from every corner.

The woman had prepared a little food for her children; alas, they were very hungry. We drank a glass of tea, talked a little – and we went to sleep.

The woman and her husband and child [went to sleep] in the small bedroom; they put up an iron bed for my husband and me.

The night passed; it was day. My husband did not have a job, did not earn money. We did not have a home. What could we do?

I said to my husband: “Let us go to Brooklyn. A cousin of mine lives there. She has been here several years. Perhaps she will help in some way?”

The cousin rejoiced with us. Her husband worked; they had a beautiful home. She prepared a fine Shabbos. We said the blessing over the candles, ate fish, noodles and soup, meat, a good tzimmes [a sweet carrot–based stew]. We talked a little and it was time to go to sleep. My cousin's husband went to the Shabbos candles and extinguished them. I became very unhappy when I saw this. I could not sleep the entire night. Shabbos morning I said to my husband: “Shmuel, I do not want to stay here; let us go back to New York.” He said: “Wait until night, when we will be able to travel.” However, I did not want to wait. We left on foot.

We were in New York; my husband led me to his cousin. She had a beautiful home while we did not have a place to lay our heads. There, we sat for a time, had something to eat. It was getting late. We had to leave and return to the landsman where we slept over for another night.

Sunday morning my cousin came to give me 10 dollars. We rented a residence (seven dollars) and I bought a few old things for the remaining three dollars and we moved into our own place of rest. My husband looked for some way to earn [money] and a week later he came home with the news that he was working. We felt fortunate.

Shabbos morning, he took his tallis [prayer shawl] and went to the synagogue; he came home, ate and was leaving. I asked where he was going? He said to me that he needed to meet a landsman in the street.

Shabbos passed. On Sunday we went together to visit landsleit [people from the same town]. Monday, he went to work. The week passed. It was Shabbos again. My husband went to the synagogue, came home, we ate – and again went out to the street. Finally the secret came out – my husband told me that where he was working one must work on Shabbos. He searched and searched – alas, he could not find another job.

When I heard that my husband was working on Shabbos, I said that I would do various kinds of work until God helped and he got a job at which he would not have to desecrate Shabbos. As I knew how to be a seamstress, I began to work, not earning very much, but we coped.

In 1909 I gave birth to another girl. The poverty was great. My husband already was doing various kinds of work just to earn a living, until he learned how to be a presser of women's dresses and earned a living. We were again satisfied, until 1910 arrived. Strikes began. Whoever had a little bit of money could strike; we did not have, so with two children, we again began to suffer from hunger. I had a cousin; he sold bread that I received for free…

These are my experiences up to 1910.

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Krasnik was a Jewish city about which little was heard before the war [World War One]. But our shtetl [town] occupied a respected spot on military maps.

Krasnik is located not far from the Vistula [River] and was close to the then Austrian border.

It was in the month of August 1914 when the First World War broke out. A red, fiery sky stretched over Europe. Bullets flew over our heads on the first day of the war, until the Austrian military occupied Krasnik.

Everything that belonged to the old Tsarist regime disappeared. However, the Tsar's Cossacks did not forget to loot the Jewish houses and to make a ruin of businesses, to trample with their feet everything they could not take with them.

Krasnik breathed freely with the entry of the Austrian troops. Order was maintained by the firemen, led by the mayor, a teacher and Christian tailor. On the other hand, the rebbe and the Krasnik rabbis worked to represent Jewish interests in relation to the Austrian occupier.

To our great misfortune, the Austrians were unable to hold Krasnik in their possession for more than 27 days. The population awaited the return of the Tsarist military with trembling and fear.

It was the Friday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The four-sided market place suddenly seemed to grimace from inner pain. A patrol and an officer on a horse appeared at Zanwil Leib Szor's open gate. They stopped in the middle of the market and the officer stopped every Jew he met and questioned him.

Thus, six Jews from Krasnik were arrested: Chaim Tapel, Leibish Sukman, Dowid Szustak, Krumholc, Lamhut and a tailor. The officer also arrested the mayor, the teacher and the Christian tailor. This was on Friday, at 10 o'clock in the morning. All of those held were taken away to the Olbięcin fields, a few kilometers from Krasnik. Several hours later they were found shot, without a trial.

They were unable to bury the first victims and three days later Reb Motele from Pruszkow, the rebbe from Krasnik, Ayzyk Fishl the Kaczone Rabbi and Hershele Zajler and his son were arrested. They were taken away to prison and they were hung several days later. Honor their memory!

Krasnik became known for such a calamity and such a sad chapter during the First World War, 1914-1918.

The first years after the rise of independent Poland were years of “tempest and turmoil” in Jewish life. The Jewish shtetl that existed for generations in the old Jewish traditional form was shaken economically, politically and spiritually to its foundation. Old and new powers woke up. The flames, which after the 1905 revolution were seen as having been extinguished forever, flared up anew. New strengths, ideas and strivings appeared together in the communal arena.

Krasnik did not avoid the storms that shook the old world. It especially hit the young. New problems arose for them and with them – the attempts to find a solution through all kinds of parties, groups, leaders. Old and new ideas bubbled as if in a kettle. The

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traditional Jewish circles supported the religious way for many generations and they did not want to lose their influence and answered everything by saying there should be no [earthly] interference. Help could only come from heaven. However, this no longer made an impression on the young who looked for their own ways in the various parties.

And all kinds of parties arose; various Zionist organization, right and left, even the religious Mizrakhi. Later, a group of Revisionists was also created, led by Yisroel Szliszes and others. The Bund, for its part, developed great activities, mainly in the area of creating Jewish professional unions that were under its influence. The unions helped a great deal in bettering conditions for the Jewish workers.

The so-called “middle class” children grouped themselves around the right Poalei-Zion [workers of Zion, Marxist-Zionist party] and was led by Falek Broner, a young, thin man, a little stooped. He always walked around wearing a large pair of glasses, preoccupied, engrossed. Shiale Markewicz and Zeduk the junkman led the left Poalei-Zion. A group of haHalutz [pioneers preparing to emigrate to Eretz-Yisroel] also arose, led by Ruchl Brajer. Young people from middle class homes could be seen dressed as halutzim [pioneers], proudly marching through the Krasnik streets. A Gordynia [pioneer youth] organization also existed. Simkha (I do not remember his family name) led the general Zionists, Mordekhai and Yitzhak Bichbinder – Mizrakhi [religious Zionists].

It should be understood that the old traditional Jewish societies – gmiles khesed [interest free loans]; hakhnasat kalla [fund to aid for poor brides]; bikur kholim [visiting and aiding the sick] – existed alongside the newly arising parties, as well as a tenant's society and a khevre kadisha [burial society].

At some times a great deal was going on in the city. On a beautiful day, if I am not mistaken, this was in the spring of 1924, we learned in Krasnik at 12 at night that a train of emigrants for Eretz-Yisroel was passing through. It was four kilometers from the city to the train station. All the boys and girls left to dress up in holiday clothes, even a few older people – a weekday holiday. Everyone left on foot for the station, singing Hebrew songs. Those with more conviction sang louder, the others quieter and still others who went along did not open their mouths. Of course, they did not believe that three million Jews could leave Poland and go to Eretz-Yisroel.

Memories of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, when the Red Army reached Lublin, still influenced the Jewish young, at least the larger number of them. We saw then the turmoil with our own anti-Semites in Krasnik, such as for example, Kendere the shoemaker and his comrades: Dambrowski, Czerwinski and others. At that time they ran around as if crazy and cursed the Jews and communists. This was a great lesson for we young people.

We already have mentioned the professional unions. Most of them were created in 1920. At the same time an artisans' union was created as well as Tsukunft [future], a Bund group for the young. Simultaneously, an organization of the communist young arose and the beginning of its work consisted mainly of education. There was much discussion about the ways of fighting for socialism. The work with the Polish workers expanded little by little. Then, robust Jewish activists emerged from the various Jewish organizations.

I will mention several personalities:

I remember the young Lemer, leader of the Bund youth group – Tsukunft. [He] was from a family of Jewish traders in Krasnik. He threw himself into defending his comrades in his trade with all his youthful fervor. He himself was the secretary of the gaiter-stitchers' union and he was a capable organizer and would do everything for the Bund youth group – Tsukunft. Alas, the capable communal activist died at age 18 in the Lublin hospital and his funeral took place in Lublin in February 1927.

Several hundred workers from all of the trades took part [in the funeral], as well as a large delegation from Krasnik.

Active with him in Tsukunft were: Yisroel Fuksman, Yisroel Goldfarb, Zelig Garfinkl. Two well-known older Bundists worked with them: Yankele Cyngiser, who later perished during a deportation, a tailor – a true encyclopedia. His specialty consisted of recognizing the names of all of the great personalities and, therefore, he always quoted Marx or …. [Beynish] Michalewicz [a Bundist leader]. The second older Bundist was Yankl Zajdenband. He had a bakery in Krasnik – a tall, broad, well developed person. He believed that he knew everything, even how the Russian revolution was carried out. Therefore, we had special respect for him. I remember also Zaynwel Diamand who, because of his literary work, never declared publically that he belonged to the Bund. This permitted him to enter a middle class environment, as, for example, the Folks-Bibliotek [the people's library] that was led by Hersh Griner, the Szafrans, Brofmans and others.

I remember with particular pride and pleasure that almost all of the young people in Krasnik belonged to the various groups. Few among them were excluded or remained indifferent.

A large number of Jewish workers and young people created a communist party group in Krasnik during the 1920s. In 1924 the group made an official connection with the Communist Party of Poland. Bright images of party comrades of that time pass me by: the proud, robust figure of the tailor, Manasha Wajsman. He was honest, persuaded that the Jewish worker and the Polish worker would find an answer together to all of their questions. Therefore, he was the first of the 11 people who were shot by the Hitlerists in Krasnik right after the start of the war.

Noakh Reger was a tall, straight man, also a tailor. The fight against the anti-Semites lay in his blood because when he was very young his father was killed in a terrible way.

The misfortune with his father, Chaim Reger, made a terrible impression in the city then. He

The teacher Blat's First Jewish School [1921-22]

was a trader in the villages. Once he arrived too late at a house. Night fell fast. He had to spend the night in one of the villages where he was well known. They worried [about him] at home when the father and husband did not come home as usual. Early the next morning, the city was shocked when he was found stabbed. The misfortune planted a hate in the heart of his son, the young worker, a will to fight against the hooligans murdering and agitating against the Jews. He decided that only active communist activity would thwart the anti-Semitic venom.

We all particularly admired Khayale Gutwilig. She was born into a poor family, the oldest of five children. The father, Ahrele, a shoemaker, could barely provide for his family and in her early years, Khayale had to work with a seamstress in order to help with the income. The young girl did not cease studying and reading in these difficult conditions. In time she was one of the most beautiful figures, an example of a woman's participation in the struggle for her ideals.

I also want to remember the two Feldhendler brothers – Leibl and Chaim. They came to the “big city” of Krasnik from a shtetl. We did not know their family. They themselves created their names: Leibl der shneyder [the tailor] and Chaim der rimer [the harness maker], two healthy proletarians, dedicated idealists. They were arrested after a successful action and sentenced to long years in jail. Leibl Feldhendler later fought for the Spanish Republic. He fell there in the battle against fascism.

The communist idea even penetrated among the yeshiva students. I remember my comrade Yankl, who studied in a beis-medrash [house of study and prayer]. When he was arrested and sentenced to several years in jail for communist activity, his mother, poor thing, wrung her hands and constantly repeated:

“My son a red? I never noticed him in a red shirt…”

I remember with special pleasure the first contact that we – the communist youth – had with the gymnazie [secondary school] in Krasnik.

We had the contact through Shlomole Kalchmacher's daughter. Malkhale. [She was] a girl of average height, dressed in a gymnazie uniform that evoked even more respect for her; one of those who dared break open the religious ghetto and go to the gymnazie on Shabbos. However, for us the contact with the gymnazie had a great significance. This confirmed that the working class was not alone in its struggle for better conditions and freedom. Malkhale later grew up into a splendid dedicated worker-activist. When she was very young she had to leave Poland. She arrived in France, where she continued her studies, but this did not hinder her from connecting to the working class here.

In 1934 I again had the good fortune to be with Malkhale in the creation in Paris of a so-called Krasniker Patronacz (Patronet [organization to aid Jewish political prisoners]), whose task was to help the young Jews who suffered from hunger in the Polish jails. Our work consisted of collecting money and sending it to Krasnik to those who were free, so that they could provide food packages to the political prisoners.

Malkhale played an important role in the illegal struggle against the occupier during the Hitlerist occupation. When she was arrested, the Gestapo attempted to break the dedicated worker-fighter with all physical means and [attempts to break her] morale – but without success. Sure of the correctness of her ideas, she always stood in the first ranks in helping the tortured despite her difficult personal situation. Thanks to her medical knowledge (she was pharmacist), she saved dozens of women from certain death in Auschwitz. She helped in every way she could, this one with an aspirin, this one with her own piece of bread and this one with a word of consolation. I

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remember this with full reverence for Malkhale and with pride that she came from the Jewish communist organization in Krasnik.

After the Pilsudski coup in 1926, we, the progressive part of the Krasnik Jewish youth, again continued our work. At the time of the coup, we and still other friends, whose names I do not remember, subdivided to appeal to the Polish people and to appeal to the military.

In 1928, we appealed for votes for a parliamentary election candidate who fought against fascism with life and body.

This was essentially our only way out and it was not for no reason that our numbers in Krasnik constantly grew. At that moment, when I left Krasnik in 1928, the Jewish communists were an important factor in the communal life of the shtetl.

Translator's Footnotes:

1. From the context of this paragraph it would seem that Leibish would give back the dowry money when he returned from Lublin, not, as written, the father. return
2. A person appearing for the Russian draft who received a green card was not freed from service, but had to reappear a year later. return

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During Shabbos [Sabbath] came rest…

Every Jewish home and shop was in tumult and in a rush on Friday. This one ran to shop for Shabbos; another ran to the mikvah [ritual bathhouse] and another was returning from there. The children, who were freed from the khederim [religious primary schools] and from the school at 12 o'clock, of course were hurrying home. The sound of chopping fish and the tasty aromas of the Shabbos foods were carried from the houses through the partly open windows.

The shops were full of people; all of the peasant wagons already had left the city on time and traveled back to the villages because what would a peasant have to do in a shtetl [town] on erev Shabbos [the eve of the Sabbath]?

Night. Berl Chwadiak, the shamas [synagogue sexton], ran in haste; he knocked [on shutters] calling on people to go to the synagogue. The siren at the bath whistled in order to tell people that it was time to light the Shabbos candles. Jews dressed in their Shabbos clothing – in silk caftans and polished boots, accompanied by children with small velvet hats on shampooed and washed heads – appeared in the streets. The shtiblekh [one–room synagogues] and the large synagogue were filled with worshippers. The melody and prayer, “For his mercy endureth forever,” was heard. There was a kind of holiday spirit in everyone's soul. Lekha dodi likrat kallah [Come, my Beloved, to meet the Bride] was sung and the weekly concerns of earning a living, taxes were completely forgotten completely.

Krasnik was blessed with various Hasidic shtiblekh: Lubliner shtibl, Gerer, Markiszower, Modzitzer, Rozwadower, Trisker, Tarbiner, in addition to those of Mizrakhi [religious Zionists], Khevra Kale [Bride's Society], Khevra HaTehilim [Society for reciting Psalms], Khevra Noseim [Pallbearers Society] and others. From time to time a rebbe came to visit his Hasidim. For example – the Lubliner Rebbe, Reb Shlomole Eiger, may the memory of a righteous man be blessed. His inn in Krasnik was in the house of Reb Meshulem Erlich. The Trisker Rebbe, Reb Moshele Twerski, may the name of a righteous man be blessed, always received his followers in the house of prayer. His Torah gematria [Kabbalistic interpretations based on the numerical value of Hebrew letters] were amazing things. The joy of the Hasidim was very great when they had the honor of a visit to Krasnik from their rebbe.

The Hasidim, as well as the non–Hasidim, experienced great joy when the Modzitzer Rebbe, may the memory of a righteous man be blessed, would come to Krasnik and would stay with Reb Benyamin Grinapel and Reb Shmuel–Eli Briks. In the last years, his inn was at [the house of] my unforgettable parents, may God avenge their blood. After Shabbos, when the Modzitzer returned home, our house looked as if it were after an upheaval. Obviously, the Rebbe received his Hasidim at our house. Although the doors, windows

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and ovens were badly damaged, we accepted this with love. In general, the Modzitzer, during his visit to a city or a shtetl, would always draw a very large crowd. His gentleness was well–known then. His teaching, especially the verse, “So, bless the sons of Israel” (“As the Jews are – they are worthy that they should be blessed.”). Or, “May it by Thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, to lead us up in joy unto our land, and to plant us within our border, where we will prepare unto thee the offerings that are obligatory for us,” he interpreted as “Master of the world, you have a complaint about us – so give us the boundaries and there we will fulfill our duty.”

“Any dispute which is for the sake of Heaven will ultimately endure [one that is not for the sake of Heaven will not]” – As in every city and shtetl, thus also Krasnik was not an exception, with quarrels about a rabbi, shoykhet [ritual slaughterer] and inspector of kosher meat. My parents, may the Lord avenge their blood, told me that my sandek [the man who holds the baby at a ritual circumcision] was not a rabbi, but Reb Yehoshaya Asher Brisk, because there was then a great quarrel about the rabbi whom one [group] had banned and another had permitted. And one who was neutral did not ask the rabbi to be his sandek, so he [my father] did not ask a rabbi to be his sandek but a prominent Hasidic Jew, such as, for example, Reb Yehoshaya Asher.

…So I myself lived to see a quarrel, really about life and death. [It happened] when they wanted to hire a rabbi, a young rabbinical assistant. The chief rabbi then (until he perished) was the Tarbiner Rebbe, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, may the Lord avenge his blood. As soon as the Biskewicer Rabbi, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, died, the Jews began to rage that a city like Krasnik must not have just one rabbi, such as the Tarbiner, may the memory of the righteous be blessed. He already was old then and the Hasidim did not rest: they went to the Krzeszówer Rabbi, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, may the Lord avenge his blood, and with great effort convinced him to become the rabbi in Krasnik.

Agreement to hire him came with difficulty because he was not a person capable of participating in a competition to be hired by a city larger than Krzeszów. He was given a written agreement from the esteemed personalities of all the Hasidic shtiblekh, in addition to the Modzitzer Hasidim. In hindsight they also wanted the Krzeszówer gaon [a title of respect and indication of success in Torah study], who was the son–in–law of Reb Yisroel Gerenrajch from Krasnik. The written agreement

Elimelekh Szapiro was a grandson of the Tarbiner Rebbe (through a daughter). His father was the

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Rebbe in Bedzin, a very righteous man, may his blood be avenged. The Krasnik Rabbi, Reb Dovidl, may his blood be avenged, had a daughter for whom to arrange a marriage. She was named Shprintse, a dear Jewish daughter. Now there was the question of arranging a match with her cousin Elimelekh Szapiro, on the condition that he would be elected as “assistant rabbi.”

The election campaign began – and it should be understood that for the sake of Heaven [the following speakers] appeared: Reb Moshe Hofert, may his blood be avenged, Reb Nekhemia Sztajngut, Reb Alter Zisberg, may his blood be avenged. They spoke of the great importance of electing the Krzeszówer Rabbi. In contrast, speeches were made on the Krasniker Rabbi's side by the Rabbi Yehosha Elia, the Rabbi Aytsikl, the rabbi's children, as well as Yehoshua Tajchman, Reb Mordekhl Buchbinder, may his blood be avenged, and Reb Yisroel Ender, may his blood be avenged. The election fire flamed; there was turmoil in every house. The help of the starostwa [village elder] was used with great regret. Each side thought the enemy of the Jews was on its side… Because Shprintse was a grandchild of the Modzitzer Rebbe, Reb Yehezkiel of Ozarów, the rebbe came to Krasnik so that the Modzitzer Hasidim would vote for Elimelekh Szapiro. His inn was at my parents, may their blood be avenged. The rebbe came at least twice for this purpose. It already was decided that the voting would take place on Sunday. Everything was ready. The Modzitzer Rebbe came for Shabbos to be present at the election. Meanwhile, they [the opponents] went to the starostwa with some sort of story – and the voting was postponed again. And with that, Shprintse's fate also was postponed. The Rebbe returned home with shame and heartache that he could not help his grandchild, his daughter's orphan…

A short time later – he died.

The sad news of Reb Yeheskiel's death spread lightning fast. The entire city, particularly the Modzitzer Hasidim, went to Azczorow to the funeral. Azczorow was enveloped in sadness. All of the shops were closed on that day and each Jew thought that the deceased was a victim of the election.

A telegram also arrived that the Modzitzer Rebbe from Otwock, his brother, known for his education and music, was coming to the funeral. If I am not mistaken, he came from Marienbad where he had been for a cure.

It is worth mentioning that at the time of the election campaign, the Otwock Rebbe had not been invited to say with the holy speech of a rebbe that they should elect the young man, even though they knew that Elimelekh had authorization to serve as a rabbi from the Rebbe. Now, coming from Marienbad, the Rebbe met his entire group. He found himself in a room not far from the deceased. No one gave him peace [they spent time with him] because he was still a mourner. He asked his Hasidim, he wanted to know their opinion. He asked Reb Yitzhak Gevercer what was in store for the young rabbi in Krasnik. Yitzhak sighed. He had to answer the Rebbe with something:

– The Rebbe knows that Krasnik always had good fortune with great sages as rabbis such as Reb Yisroel Yankl, may the Lord avenge his blood, the Wonwolnicer Rabbi, may the Lord avenge his blood, the Biskwicer Rabbi, may the memory of the righteous be blessed. The Orzendower [Urzedów] Rabbi, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, now stands before us as a lion, a sage of Poland. He had already been the rabbi for 20 years, while the other was still a young man. He knows and if the Rebbe said he was worthy, from the same cloth – I am sure, but he is still a young man.

The Rebbe answered quietly, with a quietly murmuring voice – How can you do this, when the Krzeszówer Jews have raised a rabbi to the age of 21, you are prepared to take him [as your rabbi]? Where is the shame? Did you raise the rabbi from one year to 21 – he would still remain a Krzeszówer sage.

The Rebbe stood up; we went to the funeral. There again were loud screams near the deceased's synagogue – for the sake of Heaven. The usual Society of Pallbearers wanted to carry the coffin and the Hasidim said that they wanted to carry their rebbe. Shouts were heard that the Orzender Hasidim had lost a righteous man because of Krasnik Hasidim and all because of the voting. In short, in the end, the rebbe [proposed] that the Society of Pallbearers carry the casket to the synagogue and from there on the Hasidim [would carry the casket]. Everyone was satisfied; everyone ran to the mikhvah [ritual bath], everything was ready.

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One of Reb Yehezkiel's daughters (he had no sons) stood to give a eulogy and she said loudly with tears:

– Krasnik Jews and Hasidim! Which of you will be able to come to my father's grave with kvitl [notes containing petitionary requests or prayers], to his ohel [structure over a grave] if you do not do what he desired and accept his grandson? Yet you all know that he took it upon himself fervently and therefore was torn from us…

The second daughter said:

– While the Tateshi [dear father] did not help his grandchild, my sister's orphan, during his life, he will help now. The righteous even in death are called living. He will be an intercessor for all Jews…

The Society of Pallbearers carried the casket to the synagogue. There, his brother, the Modzitzer Rebbe, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, eulogized him: “Indeed, we are guilty concerning our brother inasmuch as we saw his heartfelt anguish when he pleaded with us and we did not heed; that is why this anguish has come upon us.” This was Parsha Devarim. “Go up and possess [the Land]…Do not fear and do not lose resolve.” The group went home in pain and waited to carry out his desire, which the Rebbe had shown by his death. And the election took place a short time later and Reb Elimelekh Szapiro was elected as the young rabbinical assistant with a large majority. Immediately after, the beautiful rabbinical wedding took place in which the entire city took part. Everyone was a good friend of Reb Elimelekh Szapiro, God will avenge his blood.

They also gave birth to a child who was named Reb Yehezkiel after his grandfather. Alas, because of the outbreak of the Second World War, their pleasure with the young rabbi did not last long. The beautiful child, Yehezkiel, was lost during the first deportation. It was not known what had happened to him. Later, Elimelekh came to the Krasnik camp and occupied an “important” place there; he chopped wood and divided it among all of the workshops. He received the work as a result of great influence. Reb Yitzhak Rozenbusz, Reb Borukh Goldberg, Reb Nekhmia Perlman and Reb Yisroel Dovid Twardogura also were in his division.

Reb Elimelekh did not sit in the camp with idle hands. He organized a group to blow up the camp and escape. And so it was. However, the escape was not a success. In general, not many escaped. The next morning the Gestapo entered the camp and took all of those who had a connection to the escape plan. Reb Elimelekh Szapiro was among them. The Gestapo did not know exactly who the organizers were. Those who admitted to it thought that they were doing a favor for the others who had not wanted to escape and therefore they [those not wanting to escape] would not be murdered. It should be understood that this was of no help against the German murderers.

As much as my memory permits it, I will try to tell several episodes about our dear, unforgettable Krasnik.

As rabbi, images of the rabbinical world appear before my eyes and my memory before anything else. Krasnik was small, but it served as an entry-point for great rabbis, giants of their generation, to large, respected kehilus [organized Jewish communities], particularly to the important Jewish community of Lublin.

This is what I read in a book: that the Gaon [genius, one with great Torah knowledge], Rabbi Ber Rapaport, from the times of the Baal Shem Tov [Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer, founder of Hasidism], was the rabbi in Kozienice, then later in Krasnik near Lublin and [still later] after Krasnik he arrived in Lublin as rabbi. Thus too, the Gaon, Reb Ezriel Hurwicz, known as the eiznerner kop [iron head], was first was the rabbi in Krasnik. He lived in great poverty and asked for a raise of two gildn a month, which the local parneysim [trustees of a congregation] could not

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give. He left the shtetl and later became the rabbi in Lublin.

I had the opportunity to hear still more such stories from the older Jews in my shtetele. A saying spread that when a rabbi wanted to attain a prominent post, he first had to become the rabbi in Krasnik.

I will now go to the later times, which I witnessed, when my father, Reb Yehuda Arya, was the rabbi in Kozienice, then in Krasnik and, during the time of the Shoah, in W¹wolnica.

My father, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, was a great rabbi, a great Jew and a great man. He wrote 24 treatises about the Torah, Halakhah [religious law] and Agadah [non-legal rabbinical texts]. When he arrived in Krasnik, despite his widespread communal work and worry about his income, he created a yeshiva [religious secondary school] to which young men from various other cities and shtetlekh would come to study Torah. Many of his students later became rabbis.

There were good people and good Jews in Krasnik. I do not list any names of the businessmen who gave their time and money to help the needy and anonymous donations for formerly rich men who became impoverished, because if I begin to mention names, I will, God forbid, fail [in naming them all] and I will insult their holy memory.

However the simple, ordinary Jews also were sincere, dear Jews. I remember how after a drosha [sermon] by my father, one Leibus Blecher came to him and said: A yasher koyekh [well done], Rebbe, although I did not understand everything and for we simple Jews, the sour milk was left, which is tasty to us.”

I remember a story about Yerakhmiel the butcher who ran into my father and with real tears in his eyes told about a misfortune that had happened: he had sold many heads and among them was mixed in a non-kosher head. The story ended with two shamosim [sextons] being called, who were paid for their efforts by the butcher and they went around, bought all of the heads [from the butcher's customers] and gave them to the butcher who returned the money each had paid.

And the young people? Because of the difficulty in earning a living in the shtetl the young people went to larger cities to seek work. These young people in the larger cities were inculcated with various ideas such as the Bund, communism and the like. Everyone wanted to organize cells according to their understanding. This would particularly come to expression during the holidays when they came home from the larger cities.

They organized a meeting with discussion in the forest near the shtetl during Khol Khomoed [intervening days of] Sukhous [the Feast of Tabernacles]. Jews turned to my father to do something against this. They found their satisfaction in another kind of meeting: they all came together on Simkhas Torah [the holiday celebrating the conclusion of the past year's reading of the Torah and the beginning of the reading for the new year] at the hakafos [procession of Torahs encircling the bimah – Torah reading table] in the house of prayer and asked my father to arrange the hakafos at which they could show that they were virtuous Jews like everyone else. My father fulfilled their request with joy and danced with the Torahs with them.

That is how my earlier youth in Krasnik looked.

A society of students was organized at the house of prayer. Here the great friendship among the young men was shown. The older ones who already were Torah scholars themselves would help the weaker ones understand the Talmudic questions in the Gemara [Talmudic rabbinical commentaries]. Jewish learned men from the shtetl, such as Reb Nekhemyele Sztajngus [and] Reb Berish also would come to help the young men in their studies. Among the young students were those who would go around in pairs collecting charity for the poor.

Another important accomplishment lives in my memory. At the time of the First World War, the military was stationed in Krasnik. Among the Austrian soldiers and later among the Polish soldiers

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were a large percentage of pious Jews who wanted to study Torah. These so called Beis-Medrashnikes [those who spent time in the house of prayer] also helped in this matter [studying the Torah] with great love and devotion. We also arranged kosher food for them at their barracks.

Organizations for the pious were later organized in Krasnik such as Agudas Yisroel [Orthodox Jewish political movement] and others.

Among the members of my own family who perished at the hands of the murderers, I must mention my great father, my mother, the saintly woman, Alka Tziporah, and all of my brothers and sisters – all dear souls who I will not forget for as long as God will grant me life.

And I will end with the verses of the Torah – “O nations – sing the praises of His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will bring retribution upon His foes, and He will appease His Land and His people.”^[1]

Translator's Footnote:

1. The author of this article repeats the Torah verse in Yiddish, as translated from Hebrew by the Yiddish poet Solomon Blumgarten, known as Yehoash.

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