[Page 151]

In the years of 1930-1934 I often used to visit Lancut together with Simcha Seiden from Rzeszow, who at present resides in the United States, and is the manager of the Yiddish radio station. We used to come on behave of an insurance campaign of the Jewish National Fund headquarters. I knew a lot about Lancut from the History of Poland, also about the Count Potocki, who was related to the Potocki family in Butchats, owners of estates in that city.

I heard a lot about Jewish Lancut and Zionism, the second largest city in the district of Rzeszow, where the echoes of the struggle between Zionist youths, national and folks activists, And the “Jews of the court.” These were Jews close to the authorities, and with their support ruled the communities, and together wot the “Agudah,” circles, became an obstacle in the way of the national movements of the Galician Jewry.

I had many acquaintances in Lancut. During our visits in the city, our place of activity and rest was ion Wolkenfeld's restaurant in the marketplace square. Wolkenfeld's sons, who were involved in the Zionist, and economic life of the city were an important source of Zionist information and were very supportive in our activities. In their crowd, we got to know their brother-in-law, the son-in-law of the Wolkenfelds, Tzvi Bauer, a native of the Zionist, and industrial city Drohobycz.

Lancut was an effervescent city in the area of economy. The Jews were active in every economic venue, and many of them were connected with the estate of Count Potocki, and with the peasantry in the vicinity. Among them there were government functionaries, mainly in the government schools, and professionals agricultural farms. Some had business contacts abroad. The community leader, Hersh Estlain, at that time had very little influence upon the spiritual and party life in his community. The study houses bustled with scholars and Torah learners. In the Zionist movement, there was a rainbow of almost all Zionist parties. The general Zionists were especially powerful. Also, the labor and the Zionist pioneer movement were also strong. There was a small branch of my native city Butchats, among them was Fabian Ebner, the son of a famous family, who was a religious teacher in government schools, and the registrar of births in the Jewish community. He was active in Lancut from 1908, and was involved in the life of the city, and in many different public institutions. His brother Dr. Chaim Ebner was one the Zionist activists, and head of the community in Chortkow, the second man from my city was Dr. Shtern who was an outstanding gymnasium teacher, and known, as a good pedagogue, and well liked by the students and their parents. Not withstanding the fact that he was a government functionary, he was a devoted Zionist. He came from a respective family in Buchatch, one member of his family was the head of the community and was also a delegate in the Austrian Parliament. His wife, a granddaughter of Nusi (Nathan) Man, was a man of Torah and wisdom. The daughter of Leyzer Man who was a senior post office clerk during the Austrian rule and later in Poland. Mrs. Shtern was a talented mathematician and an outstanding literate. Her specialty was, that she could repeat and entire page by heart as soon she read it, or if someone read it to her. She possessed a phenomenal memory in numbers.

There was a doctor living in Lancut, Dr. Pohorilo, who was a grandson of Leib Pohorilo, a scholar from the Beit Hamidrash of the Tzadik from Buchatch. He was also often visited by the family writer, Sh. J. Agnon. The doctor was an honest man, kept away from public life, but destiny wanted that this quiet man who devoted himself only to his medical profession has been selected by the Nazis to become the leader of the “Judenrat.” His wife and children were killed immediately by the German Gestapo, after she fiercely resisted his nomination, but he was later killed, together with the rest of the community.

In 1933, the city of Lancut experienced a strong anti-Semitic movement, and an atmosphere of a pogrom that was initiated by the guardian of the law, the district ruler, Bogoslawski, who was known for his hatred toward Jews.

In Lancut like in many Galician cities, there were some cooperatives that existed during the period of the Austrian rule, and was later active in Poland, with the knowledge and supervision of authorized government institutions. They were also formally legal, but in actuality they were private credit institutions to extend credit to farmers with a negative appearance for charging not a too modest interest. In order to liquidate this negative form of credit, the progressive Jewish public established a net of cooperatives according to the credit laws more accessible to simple folks, under the leadership pf special specialists. The movement helped a lot to the poorer segment of the Jewish population, craftsmen, and store owners. It must be said in praise of these activists that they were the pride of the Polish Jewry, and throughout the world, of which many continued their blessed activity in Israel.

However, the goal of the district ruler, Boguslawski was not to help the farmers, but to organize an anti-Semitic movement in his region and throughout Poland. He wasn't satisfied with warning and inspection only, the way other rulers did in such cases, but he shot down the cooperative bank, and arrested the owner Wolkenfeld, Zawada, and others, aiming to destroy the Jews economically, free the farmers from their debts, and incite a pogrom movement in the entire area.

We did not like the existence of these family banks and their activity either, but we were aware of the malicious intentions of the district ruler in Lancut. We understood that we have to get rid of threatened atmosphere aimed at Jews. We began to intervene with the authorities in Lwow, Krakow and Warsaw, and let the central government know about the district ruler's intention, and the danger of a pogrom that was hovering over the Lancut Jews, and in a short time we managed to end the ugly situation in which the community has found itself.

Professor Stern and his wife

[Pages 152-153]

A few decades have passed since the episode of blood libel happened in the Baden village, which was in the Lancut vicinity. It happened in 1905 or 1906. Despite the fact that I wasn't born then but the details of the story became enshrined in my memory from the many conversations that I had listened to. It is the story of the murder of Gregory, the drunkard, whose corpse was found in a wheatfield. Forty Christians had testified that they had seen “a Jew with a white beard escaping from the murder scene at night”. The Jew was meant to be the 86-year-old Reb Yaacov Bialobrzeger, who was sentenced to die by hanging. The sentence was appealed in Rzeszow and at first, he was freed. Then it was appealed a second time by the prosecution and he was sentenced to 4-years imprisonment. He died in prison. During his confession, Jews recited before dying in the presence of a Rabbi, he said: “Rabbi, I did not kill anyone, it is a blood libel”. This was the tense life and characteristic of a lone Jew living in a village of gentiles. The fate of Reb Yaacov Bialobrzeger, having only one eye, and the blood libel has been told by the old and the young which excited the fantasy. In time, the story seemed to be like a legend from past years, unfortunately, it was not a legend. It was reality and it was a typical blood libel.

Baden was one of many villages that surrounded Lancut. Life in these villages was typical for a Polish farmer in those days. Backbreaking work in the fields, a lot of trouble from the big landowners. A great many farmers lived in ignorance and drunkenness. In all, these villages, a few Jewish families lived among the peasants and existed in poverty and need. Some Jews had taverns or other business. The tavern of Reb Yaacov Bialobrzeger served the arena for his blood libel.

The story began with Gregory the drunkard who was a steady visitor to the tavern. Violent outbreaks, chair breaking and fights were a regular feature in the tavern where the village people came to make themselves forget their troubles and relax from their backbreaking, hard labour. But Gregory was different. Why? Because whenever he was intoxicated, not only was he violent, cuss and fighter, but he opened his closed heart and told things that you would not have heard from him when sober. When he was drunk, he would boast about his participation in the pogrom and killing Jews, and about the number of beards that he had torn off from Jewish faces and how many stores he had robbed. His tales often caused fights and arguments in the tavern and the gentiles saw in Reb Yaacov, the owner of the tavern, a sworn enemy of Gregory, the murderer of Jews.

Reb Yaacov was a simple, distinguished old Jewish man who went through a lot in his life. He spent a great amount of time among the “Goyim” and knew how to get along with them. With his one eye, he managed everything and he was not afraid of anything.

On one summer day, the village of Baden lost its tranquillity. The rumour rapidly spread in the village that Gregory was murdered and his corpse was found in a wheatfield. The people began to investigate and immediately found witnesses who claimed that they had seen, at night through their windows, an old Jew with a white beard running away from the field where Gregory's body was found. He was holding a hatched in his hand and ran in the direction of the tavern. The same witnesses who told the story of what they had seen through the window, later added, during their testimony in court, that they had heard screams from the place where Gregory was found but were afraid to go outside, but saw everything through the windows.

Reb Yaacov Bialobrzeger was the suspect and was arrested. It seemed that bad feelings and hostility which the villagers had with Reb Yaacov was concentrated in their testimony in court. The villagers did everything possible to accuse him of murdering Gregory. The Jews were shocked from this accusation and hired a lawyer to defend him. People from the area talked a lot about the case and the Lancut Jewish Community was like a beehive.

Reb Yaacov was put on trial before sworn judges. The trial was presided by someone whose name was Pshekowski. The defence council was Dr. Reich from Rzeszow. The prosecution brought 40 witnesses, all from the Baden village, who testified under oath that they had seen the old Jewish man running away from the field and that they had heard Gregory's scream for help.

The simplicity and innocence of Reb Yaacov Bialobrzeger were his stumbling blocks during the trial because, when the presiding judge asked the accused where he had lost his eye, Yaacov told him that in his youth, he was a strong and healthy young man. Wanting to escape military service, he threw salt in his eye and that is how he lost his eye. The presiding judge, who pronounced the verdict, sentencing him to die by hanging, remarked during the sentencing, among other things, that a person who was able to blind himself so cruelly, was capable of committing murder. However, if supposedly such a comparison was valid, the fact was that this had happened 60 years ago when Yaacov wanted to escape military service and that it should have had no bearing during the trial of an old man such as Yaacov the owner of the tavern, at present. But it seemed that the atmosphere in the courtroom was against the accused and this influenced the results.

A death sentence of a Jew in Poland, in those days, came like a thunder on a clear day in the entire vicinity. The people of Lancut were mobilized and ready to help. The Jews saw in this, a story of a clear blood libel against an innocent man. Jewish groups were organized to collect money for his defence. They hired famous lawyers to handle the appeal which was done immediately.

Two assistant Rabbis, Reb Chaim Reuven Wagshall and Reb Baruch Fast travelled to Galician cities in order to collect money needed to prepare for the forthcoming appeal trial. A famous lawyer from Krakow, Mr. Rosenblat had put himself at the disposition of the accused, and the vice-mayor of Rzeszow, who was also a lawyer, Mr. Hochfeld was going to be his assistant. The appeal trial took place in Rzeszow in December of that same year, before a sworn court of judges. There were Jews among the judges.

People in Lancut had left their business and crowded the courthouse in Rzeszow, and so were many Jews from the area. The courthouse was full with Jews. In Lancut, many had followed the proceedings of the appeal with anxiety. The proceedings lasted for four days. The prosecution brought the same witnesses and the defender demanded to protocol their testimonies. The atmosphere in court was tense.

On Friday, in the late afternoon, the verdict was supposed to have been proclaimed. Jewish people in Rzeszow and in Lancut did not sit down to the Shabbath meal, but waited for the verdict, after which the entire city celebrated. The accused was acquitted and sadness turned into a holiday. The Jews had become emotional and organized a hostile demonstration against the prosecutor. There is a possibility that they over-reacted and the prosecutor felt insulted from the demonstrations against him, which caused him personally to appeal the verdict.

The third trial took place in March. The defender, Dr. Rosenblat, refused to appear again but published a statement in which he accused the organizers of the third trial as only being interested in inciting the Christian population in Baden against the Jews. For the third trial, a famous gentile lawyer, Dr. Gerek from Lwow, was hired to defend the accused. The accused was found guilty and sentenced to four-years imprisonment.

Yaacov Bialobrzeg was jailed in the Brigidki prison in Lwow. His old age did not withstand the suffering, and after a year and a half, he died in prison. Before he died and at his request, they brought a Rabbi to his death bed. Reb Yaacov Bialobrzeg, the simple and innocent man, with his statement expressed the suffering of the Jewish People in the Diaspora and said the following:

“I am innocent from any crime. They smeared me with a libel, wanting to put me to the wall of shame and avenge, when I committed no wrong”.

A long time had passed since the famous Bialobrzeg trial but the echoes continued to resound in the ears of the young people in Lancut, enough to excite their fantasies and agitate their spirit. The story has remained in the memory of the village Jews who, generally, were almost forgotten. May these lines about the story be a monument to the small group of Jews that lived in Baden and nearby villages.

Relatives of Yaacov Bialobrzeg are living with us in Israel and their name is Magenheim. A few came as pioneers and some came after the Holocaust.

[Pages 154-158]

He was born in Lancut in1908. In his childhood, he attended the Hebrew school for several years. His teachers were Reb Alter Graubart, of blessed memory, and Dr. Nathan Warhaftig, of blessed memory. He received a secular education but the national spirit which was inside him, had stamped all his activities.

He was of short statue, simply dressed, modest in his way of life, serious in his behaviour, had a subtle mind and was brisk and devoted to his activities.

In spite of his being burdened with the yoke of livelihood in his father's stores, there wasn't a public or Zionist activity that young Moshe did not participate in. He was the activist and speaker. He was one of the respected members in the Young People's Society. “Sifriyat Neurim”, in which he invested toil and effort. He was an activist in the “Hechalutz Hatzayir”, “Hashomer Hatzayir and “Haivriyah”. He was a member of the local Zionist Committee and secretary of the Jewish National Fund, and a member in a few charity institutions.

Among the natives of Lancut in Israel, there are quiet a few that in their Zionist upbringing and influence, Moshe Rozenblit had played a substantial role.

October 1929. I am in doubt as to whether you can imagine my pained soul, if you possess the energy to understand the meaning of being lonesome, alone, without a colleague, a brother or a friend. After I saw you off, when you left for Eretz Israel, my understanding was that you had left me forever. I concluded that all our dreams about organizing culture groups and studying, was stashed away forever. Now I am here alone and who was left here with me? It is like in a cemetery! It imposes gloom and fear of death.

A funny thing! You know that I never liked the noise and tumult, the exaggerated festive celebrations, but now look at me! Wonders of wonders! I miss having a good life, a little bit of laughter and gladness. From the information that has reached me, I learned that over there in Eretz Israel, you are satisfied and happy with your lot. Hearing such news infects me as well with a little bit of joy, thinking in my heart that at least one of the sons of Lancut is happy.

And now I would like to inform you about a few of our friends. Itzik Popiol lives in Krakow. He passed his entrance exams. Naphtali Reich and Artchi Marder came to see me.

A farewell party for Michael Walzer on the occasion of his emigration to Eretz Israel At the bottom is: Yitzhak Greenbaum Sitting in second row are: David Trompeter, Esther Yust and Yeshayahu Gersten Sitting in third row are: Moshe Feilshus, Nachman Kestenbaum, Shimon Wolkenfeld, Getzel Estlain, Menachem Baumel, Moshe Rozenblit, Pinchos Tzviebel, Penina Margal, Michael Walzer, Machtche Adler, Henia Lederman, Henia Greizman and Michael Rosmarin Standing in first row are: Eliezer Fass, Mendel Gersten,, Manka Machlowich, Moshe Rosmarin, Penina Sauerhaft, Nechama Sapir, Joseph Seifer, Leib Shtecher and Yaacov Trompeter Standing in second row: Shimon Walzer, Menachem Popiol, Napthali Glanzberg, Michael Shipper, Breindl Lindblit, Israel Birnbaum, Tzvi Sauerhaft, Leib Wiener, Yaacov Both and Moshe Trompeter

November 1929. Renting a hall outside the city was a wise idea which our friends did. (It is near the electric station). In the long winter nights, we had a place where we could get together. With the help of Nachman Kestenbaum, Gersten and Frey (he was from Rzeszow, Shipper's son-in-law), we managed to organize a group for Hebrew culture in the school. They assembled on Friday nights and Sabbaths and spoke Hebrew for an hour or two. Last week, Mr. Lederman spoke about “Rabbi Yhudah Halevi” and on Friday, we discussed the riots in Eretz Israel. Of course, only Nachman and I were the speakers. Somehow it was hard to make the people talk. The following people were there: Nachman, Gersten, Frey, Sauerhaft, Disha, Hena Greizman, Penina Margal, Esther Yust, Sarah and Hela Stitzel and others. All were “Shomrot” in the past and together, there were 22 people. I am sure that as long as the long winter nights would last and the chirping of the birds in “Eretz” had not begun, the cultural life would continue.

There is a shortage of young men. Therefore, the group relied mostly on the girls. What could we do?

I received a letter from Aaron Sapir in Vienna. He sought advice concerning the study material that he had received from the university about Gehenna, paradise and the resurrection among Jews, Christians and Muslims. After the completion of this composition, he probably will get his title in theology. I advised him to help himself with the Gemara, Sanhedrin, the Zohar and the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel.

August 1930. The building of the Beit Haam is nearing completion. Which means that only a few rooms and the auditorium have to be completed but they are drowning in debts. Yesterday, we had a memorial service for the victims of the riots in Eretz Israel. Mr. M.Mk. spoke. When God wants to punish an illiterate, he puts a Hebrew word in his mouth to trip him. The same happened here. He wanted to show his knowledge about the history of Tel-Chay, Trumpeldor, Zhabotinski, and created a story which the two of them, according to him, Trumpeldor and Zhabotinski, were not Zionists but enemies of Zionism, heaven forbid, that they fought Zionism with a sword and a bayonet.

It had been two days since I had not left the house because of the uninterrupted downpour, day and night.

Our group is shuttered to pieces. Next Saturday, there will be a party in “Gwiazda” club house dedicated for the Beit Haam. They say that dinner would require formal attire and have ten zlotys in the pocket. Of course, I will not be there.

September 1930. I am 22-years-old and many problems are bothering my brains and give me no respite. We are all attached to Zionist activity. We keep repeating daily into each other's ears, the need to collect money for the Jewish National Fund and for the Foundation Fund and the obligation of the young people to emigrate to Eretz Israel to build the land. What bothers me is, what will happen to the Jewish people here? What will the innocent flock do? What will the depressed poor who are contributing to those funds, money which, in reality, does not belong to them to give, but are ashamed to claim poverty and say we don't have it. The “Tomchey Aniyim” Society where I serve as secretary, is flooded with applications from the newly impoverished. They come and beg for discretion. Many Jewish people in Poland suffer from the cold weather and hunger without help. Although I was raised in the Zionist movement, always to worry about Eretz Israel, my heart is pained worrying what will happen here to the wretched? I hope that you will forgive me why I suddenly decided to share with you the epicurean thoughts. I did not intend to urge you to collect money in Eretz Israel for your brothers in the Diaspora. But I want you to know that you, in Eretz Israel, do not feel the Jewish soul in the Diaspora.

Yes, I know that we constantly talk about the need to emigrate to Eretz Israel because there is no other future for the Jewish people elsewhere, but what about the destiny of the fourteen-fifteen million Jews in the Diaspora? Who has the answer to this question? And I? I hear the laughter, the creaking of the teeth of A Mephistopheles. An entire nation is going down never to be recovered! Do you feel the same? The land is not too far and it is not in heaven, but the hand that is supposed to extent the help is short and does not reach.

November 1930. It is four o'clock in the afternoon here in Lancut. The first winter show is coming down but the event in the city is flowing like a little creek, slow and quiet. My situation has not changed for a long time. Most of the time I am busy in our store, hence my father is not able to do much. I began studying English together with Israel Gersten under the supervision of my brother in America. I mail him letters and long lessons and he sends them back, corrected and edited. I am already writing and understanding a little English, but do not see any usefulness of it, but as they say: “If it would not help, it would not hurt”.

In a few days there will be the festive opening of the Beit Haam. The income of the Jewish National Fund, last year, was 1,600 zlotys. I am the secretary. (50% was collected by the members of “Hanoar Haivri”). There was a protest meeting against the “White Book” and another 500 zlotys was collected for the Jewish National Fund. The “Hashachar” library developed nicely. The young Knafel is the chairman and I am the secretary. We have a weekly income of 12 zlotys. It is a big sum. At present, we are buying books in Yiddish and Hebrew.

November 11^th is the National Day of Poland's liberation. The “Hazamir” orchestra was invited to the celebration in the synagogue. But a dispute broke out for not paying out the subsidy by the community administration for a long time, therefore, the band refused to perform. The chairman of “Hazamir”, engineer Shpatz, demanded that the orchestra perform but his demand was refused. It was a good thing that the Governor did not come to the celebration as a big scandal was avoided. Can you imagine that Joshua, the cantor, sang the hymn, “Jeszcze Polska Nie Zginela”. Shpatz had resigned from the chairmanship of the “Hazamir”.

Local politics has drawn the young people. By politics, I mean disputed and arguments, and as a result, Rozmarin and Itzik Popiol were put on trial for causing riots in the synagogue during service because of their involvement with the rabbinic dispute. The new Rabbi, Alter Wagshall, was also sued for officiating at a wedding without permission and could be sentenced to six weeks imprisonment.

The Zionist Ticket to the parliament elections was cancelled in Lancut in spite of having a good chance. The candidate was Dr. Bulba. Now we will have to vote for the government ticket of Pilsudski, but he is better than the “Endex”. The Rabbi organized a mass meeting in the “Gwiazda” club and recommended to vote for the government ticket. Shpatz also claimed that there was no other choice. Krumholz from the P.P.S. in Rzeszow was detained in connection with the forthcoming elections.

Yitzhak Greenbaum is studying in the polytechnic of Nancy, France. Meir Milrad is also studying there. Abraham Estlein, Joseph Sheinman and David Fast are in the university. Pinek Fast has apparently left for France to a commercial high school. Zeev Milrad graduated the gymnasium in Rzeszow. Josek Tuchfeld is in Krakow.

Two months ago, I went to the Eastern fair. It wasn't worthwhile but I went and saw whatever there was to see. As for you? I am not worried. You are in Eretz Israel. I am waiting for 1950 (?). By then, we will be able to meet according to our agreement which we agreed to in the delicatessen, “Lwowska”.

You wrote that you were planning to plan a small citrus grove in partnership and cooperative work. Can you make a living from such a grove? And how much money is needed for such an enterprise? My brother in America is coming for Passover for a visit and I will talk to him about it. There is a possibility that I will get help for the realization of such a dream.

December 1931. I am overtaken by fright before I take the morning newspaper in my hand. I am always afraid if something has happened in Eretz Israel. The British have established a new investigation committee on the Eretz Israel problem. On the other hand, I am often attacked with odd statistic about the capacity of absorption of Eretz Israel. Different questions come to my mind: How many Jews can our land absorb in the future? There is an awakening of late taking place among the Arabs. Wouldn't the awakening come before we will fortify?

You asked me if we would see each other before 1950? I think no, unless you would come to visit us as a guest. Even though life here has not future, I don't see how I can leave and emigrate to Eretz Israel. My leaving is connected with the destruction of my parents, family and everything that we have built during many years. No! I don't see a way or solution to the situation.

April 1932. The days are grey and monotonous and not because of the weather which is neither winter nor summer. Little events impress me more than an event by nature. My disposition is very gloomy. Itzik Popiol understands me perfectly but he is a person, one of a kind. A brainy type, intelligent but cold as ice. I am searching for something that could awake in him a sense of beauty and romanticism. But I think that such a thing has not been invented yet. No idea or some heightened notion attracts him.

A year ago, there was a fire in Daszkowski's store (near the elementary school) across from Popiol's house. It happened at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning. The fire started in a cellar between barrels of oil and one woman was burned. Of course, such a fire stunned the entire city including Itzik's father. He stormed into the house and yelled to the family: “Get up! There is a fire near our house and there was already a victim!” Itzik turned his head and asked where the fire was. After he was told that the fire was near his nose, he turned his face to the wall and said: “Yes, the situation is dangerous. I will go later and explore what happened”. He went back to sleep.

It is amazing how much brutal coldness that young man possesses. He completed his studies in law in Krakow, completed his judicial internship practice in Rzeszow, and within one month, he was supposed to get a job. When someone talks to him about love and romance, he shows astonishment: “How can a character like me fall in love with someone?” But me, I am forced to live in such company.

1932. Sometimes I try to figure out what has changed in the last three years since you are Eretz Israel. Sometimes, I hold my head with my hands and blame myself why I did not emigrate at that time to Eretz Israel. At present, we sink in poverty and depression without having any solution to the situation. The flag of poverty flies in everyone's faces. If I had started to describe to you the status of the people that live around me, one-by-one, you would get a horrible picture. One went bankrupt, the other closed his store and goes around idle without a livelihood. The third person is dying and the fourth? Shakily stands on his feet and is about to fall down. A whole nation is sentenced to destruction in front of my eyes and there is no way out.

The times of four years ago seem to be gone a long time which will never return. The evenings when we sat and studied different subjects and organized different groups, keep appearing before my eyes.

You are inquiring about what is new in Lancut. Many organizations have been founded of late. The Beitar, under the leadership of Shimon Wolkenfeld, Kalter, Joshua Halperin, Joseph Graff and others. The “Mizrachi” with Anshel Katz, Yechiel Nusbaum, my father and Joshua Frei. Young Mizrachi under the same “Mizrachi” leadership. General Zionist Association under the leadership of Shpatz. Zionist Sports Club, Wizo which has a membership of a hundred women and they even teach French. Poaley Zion, Freiheit, Hashomer Hatzayir, Hechalutz, an offspring of “Akiva”, Hechalutz affiliated with Hashomer Hatzayir and the “Agudah”.

I closed my eyes after reading your description of a visit to Jerusalem and I asked what did you feel when you walked on the ground of Jerusalem? Did you hear the laments of our Matriarchs when they fell with their children in their arms by the conqueror? Did you feel the rage of the ancient Israelites who sacrificed their lives, but were unable to fight the enemy because of their overbearing strength? Reading your letter, I felt as though I personally had touched an ancient stone which is kept hidden inside the secret of our history. Oh, how much softness, emotion and boldness engulfs you when you hear the words: “A visit in the charming Jerusalem mountains”.

September 1933. I am heart-broken. My father died on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul 1933. It is awful! My father, my friend died. What will I do? Now I am alone, dragged upon the waves of that kind of life. I hope that it will not be the beginning of my end.

You asked me if I will marry A? Indeed, I like her but I am very afraid of taking such a step. I don't see any future for us here. You must understand that without a penny, I cannot emigrate. The amount that I have in hand is not enough. It is also impossible to get an entrance permit. I wonder how? Isn't it laughable that for entering your own home you need a permit? How painful it is? Everything has changed for the worse. Daily life here is not only hard but it is also monotonous and degenerating.

Shimon Rozenblit

November 1934. You have probably heard about the young people that some getting prepared to emigrate and some are already on their way. I am sure that you will help them with whatever you can. They did not delude themselves about the hard life in Eretz Israel. Their intention is to live there, to have work and a piece of bread. Their main purpose is to escape from the degeneration and from a senseless life.

I am depressed. I have worked hard to make a living and there is no chance for the future. I am suddenly bothered by marriage proposals from every direction. Everyone wants to earn some money by matchmaking. My best friend is ready to give me away. I strolled with M.A. lately and the rumours were spreading that it was a match.

It is snowing and the whole city is covered with a white wrap. The temperature is 21.

October 1935. Monday, October 15, I became engaged to my chosen, Sarah Langsam.

1935 – your voice which is reaching us from Eretz Israel, is encouraging. The comrades who used to ask about you have always considered you to be a romantic vision dreamer. Now, the farmer is bursting forth from your letters. A practical man who knows the mother earth well and the weather. Still, your practical approach doesn't seem to fit your personality. I am aware that you are getting regards from your hometown Lancut lately. From your comrades who recently arrived in Eretz Israel. Here, the ground is burning under the feet and who knows what the morrow will bring?

If you want to know about my life, you know that I run an electrical supply business and barely make a living. I am not sure, but it seems to me that during one of the nights, we will wake up to the sound of the shofar of the Messiah, and we will be told: “Get out from here” and we will be forced to pick up the eternal Jewish wander staff and leave the Diaspora. Not only does the weather change, but people also change. Do you remember: “The crazy Israel?”

From right: Michael Walzer, Sarah Rosenblit (Langsam) and Moshe Rosenblit

March 1936. Thanks for your present. You are asking me when I am getting married? I cannot answer because we don't have any money. The situation here is very bad. The ground is slipping away from under our feet. Who know if you will not soon be getting letters from me, pleading for help. You cannot imagine how bad the pain and the depression is here among the Jews, me included.

1937. Many events have occurred here in the social life of Lancut. Moshe Feilshuss' business is good. Moshe Rozmarin got married. Shimon and Kalman Wolkenfeld were also married. The group has fallen apart.

My wife remembers you well. She used to come to “Hashomer” and is still devoted to its ideas. She also buys a Shekel. She sends you her regards. My beloved, good and devoted mother, reads your letters and sends her regards too. She relates to you like a son. It is the month of May and the bells in the church are ringing. They are singing on the steeple. She seats and is listening to the Christian prayers.

July 1940. I left Przemysl. We are working and feeling fine. I would like very much to keep receiving letters from the Lancut natives in Eretz Israel. Such letters brighten our skies and our hearts. I am sending greetings to everyone, wherever they are.

[Pages 159-162]

In Lancut, every man had absorbed the characteristics of a vision called: “The Count Alfred Potocki”. I visualize him spiritually on how he walked the Jewish streets of Lancut, good-heartedly and how curious looks would follow him. Half of the Jewish population derived a livelihood from him. The nobleman ate only kosher slaughtered meat because he did not want to replace the kosher meat deliverers, Chava and Shifrah Sheinman who delivered fish and meat to the Potocki house. The Christians named him “The Jewish Uncle”.

Mothers who wanted to calm down their pampered children that felt insulted wearing patched up clothing used to tell them: “Take an example from Count Potocki. He also wears patched up boots”. In fact, he used to wear such boots symbolically, to be a role model of modesty in spite of the fact that his clothes were meticulously clean and nice. He used to wear a patch on his boots that resembled a tree with six branches. One branch was partially cut off in memory of the legend about one of the Potocki family who had converted to Judaism in the middle- ages, at a time of the horrible oppression of the Jews, and he wanted to share the fate with them. Eventually, he was burned on the stake.

Count Potocki was a part of Jewish Lancut. His pretty palace, which at present became a museum, had served as an escape place for the hunted and prosecuted. He helped a lot during the horrible days of the Nazi occupation. Although it is doubtful if he saved any Jews from death, he was the only Christian who had sided with the Jews and had helped them. He was the only member of the city council that had voted against the expulsion of the Jews from Lancut.

Before the Soviets marched into Poland in 1944, Potocki was expelled from his birthplace, Lancut, and took with him several wagon trains of valuable belongings which should have secured his existence in exile. In May, 1958, he died of a heart attack at the age of 72 in Switzerland. He was single all his life, but in his old age, he did marry an English woman of Polish origin. In his last years of his life, he had a stroke in his legs and was unable to walk and was in a wheel chair.

At present, the Polish Communist government is fighting abroad for the return of his property. The story about the eleven wagon trains of valuable property that he took abroad, travels around like a legend among the Poles. Stories about antiquities that are hundreds of years old, left abroad, keeps being published in the Polish press. It is known that among the valuable gifts that were in the palace, there were also many gifts given to him by Jews at different times. Potocki's palace, the guests' halls, the theatre, now serve as an interesting subject of conversation about a past that has disappeared.

The first people of the Potocki family arrived in Lancut in approximately 1800. The first noble person of the Polish family that established their residence in Lancut was Jan Potocki who married the daughter of the Polish Marshal by the name of Lubomirski. Jan Potocki was a writer, a poet and a man of many contradictions. He introduced into Polish literature the reportage system which described the Polish way of life and events. He wrote plays and dramas, among them: “Six Farewells” and “The Gypsy from Andalusia”. He built a theatre in his palace for performance of his shows.

Natives of Lancut remember the canal which passes through his Palace. Among stories that circulated around Jan, which became widespread legends is that of a German writer who wrote a harsh critic about his shows. The old man became so enraged that he ordered the collection of all the books written by the writer, tear them to pieces and throw them into the canal.

A story is told about Jan's death that one day, after breakfast, he took out a silver bullet which he had at the ready in his drawer and shot himself in the mouth.

The mother of the last Potocki was raised in the Russian Czarist court. She was from the Radziwil family. In her diary dated 1885, there is a story among other stories that, before she moved to the palace in Lancut, her husband took her on a tour around the world to see the art treasures and the beauty of the world. She wondered if it would be worthwhile to acquire some of them for the palace located in that little town. Indeed, she brought with her gardeners from abroad for the planning of her gardens near the palace, architects, painters and also bought a lot of paintings and artwork. She also built a sport stadium with which she raised the cultural level of the city.

She had two sons. One was Jerzy Potocki who was the Polish Ambassador in the United States before World War II, and Alfred who became the ordinance over the entire estate, which according to the law, was forbidden to sell but could be added to and develop the property. The Pole fondly called him Fredzhu.

I remember the meeting of the Count, year-after-year, during the Polish Independence Day holiday on May 3^rd when the “Hazamir” band appeared in front of his palace to play in his honour. I was among the small players of a clarinet. The Count appeared in the door of his palace, shook hands with the conductor and greeted him. He then shook hands with everyone and exchanged either greetings or a joke. “It is a pity that you are not drumming on a big drum” he told me, with a smile, to make me “angry” because of my smallness – the smallest in the group! This show was repeated annually, which of course was accompanied by a nice contribution to the “Hazamir”. That was the occasion when I first met him.

Another time, I remember when I was in a summer camp of the “Hashomer Hatzayir” and we needed a permit to move around in the forests that belonged to him. I went to him with Moshe Rosenblit. He was very receptive and we received the permit. He even showed interest about us and asked me what my future plans were? I told him that I was planning to emigrate to Eretz Israel and become a farmer. He wished me luck. After many years, he remembered to inquire as to whether I had realized my plans and had emigrated to Eretz Israel.

As mentioned before, he was a friend of the Jews. In 1937, he was asked to join the Polish boycott against the Jews and he said: “If I sell something to the Jews I make a profit, but not when I do business with my own people”.

There was a Jewish musician, Moshe Stitzel, who was the count's age, not only his age but both were born on the same day. Potocki called him “Our Beethoven”. He was invited to play on all festivities and used to send gifts to his home. At present, “Beethoven” is blind and lives in Lod, Israel.

There is a special story about a “Town Crazy”, Ephraim Goldman. This man wasn't just crazy but he was also very talented. He rhymed rhymes, he sang, he drew and he sculpted. Potocki used to invite him to big parties in his palace and the man, in his long overcoat, payos and Hasidic cap, entertained the Count's guests. Potocki used to assure his guests that: “A show like this could not be seen elsewhere in the world”. Potocki's attraction to this “meshugener” talents was because the man used to draw the faces of his guests on a wall, in minutes. He used to compose rhymes and immediately fitted them to the names of the listeners which happened to be there.

Whenever Count Potocki attended prayers in the city church, he sat among the regular audience in spite of the fact that he had a specially reserved seat under a canopy. The grave sites of his ancestors were in the basement of the church, as it was customary for the Polish elite.

Different stories have circulated about his activities in favour of the Jews during the horrible days of World War II when the Nazi went wild in Poland. He is credited with many rescue actions, among them the saving of the destruction of the ancient synagogue in Lancut.

On the day of the expulsion of the Lancut Jews which was on the Eve of Sukkoth holiday, 1939, the Germans had concentrated all the Jews in the garden of the district governor. The beatings and the tortures were horrible. Two women, Leah Kestin (Anmut) and A. Wolkenfeld, went to Potocki and met him when he was on his way to a meeting of the city council. When they turned to him for help, his response was: “Bear proudly your destiny and preserve your honour”.

At the council meeting with the Germans, they accused the Jews of being traitors, of course, and that was the reason they were being expelled: Potocki said: “I vouch for the Lancut Jews that they will not betray”. Nevertheless, the majority decided to expel the Jews.

On the same day, a big delegation of women turned to him for help. Shifra Sheinman, Esther Wolkenfeld, Rachel Marder and other. The Count came out to the delegation, escorted by the bishop of the city, and said: “I did everything I could, but without success”. As an afterthought, he added: “I myself am in danger”. This was a meeting which remained deeply enshrined in the hearts of those that were present. The bishop blessed the Jews and Potocki was seen wiping off tears. “My advice is: Run, run wherever your eyes will carry you”, he said.

From left is: The Count, Alfred Potocki, Lubomirski, Zamoyski and Efrayim Goldman

During the war years, there were times when some Jews were compelled to return and were then expelled again until the bitter end of the ghetto and the annihilation. There were days when the refugees came to town and Potocki helped by contributing products and coal. Thanks to him, a kitchen was established here hot meals were distributed – something that would have been impossible without the Count's help. At that time, the Germans had burned all the synagogues in the Galician cities. Also, in Lancut, all the benches and tables were put into the centre of the synagogue, kerosene poured over and started to burn down the structure. The Jews rushed over, without considering the danger, to rescue the Torah scrolls. The Germans appeared, suddenly, put out the fire and that is how the synagogue survived.

This episode which was actually a miracle and is ascribed by the Jews to Count Potocki. It is their belief that the Germans, whose headquarters was in Potocki's palace, had sent them to put out the fire.

Further, below, are the history chapters of Count Potocki who accompanied the Lancut Jews until the bitter end. Jewish Lancut not longer exists. The palace, at the edge of the city, is also empty of his owners. With the end of Jewish life, came an end to the noble romanticism of the Potocki house in Lancut.

“The Masters of Lancut” is the name of the autobiography of the Count Potocki, the last owner of the estate and her castle, in which he personally testified about himself. “I am a son of the period and the status that two World Wars swept out”.

At the end of the book, he reminisces about the Nazi occupation, and wrote:

“They came at five o'clock, at sunrise. I saw the German columns marching near the palace, eastward. Most of the units were motorized. I was overtaken by a feeling of resignation facing their superiority of their equipment over our own military. They marched the whole day, column after column in an unending stream. It was Sunday when my mother and I went to church, not because of formality, but we had to surrender ourselves and Lancut to the kindness of heaven. The city wasn't damaged. Soon after the prayers, my mother consecrated with the help of nuns and Dr. Jedlinski, the hospital to take care of the wounded and the shocked”.

Further on in the book, he keeps describing that in the hours after midday, German officers, S.S. men and with them two doctors, decided to put up German officers in the palace on the second floor. In September, 12 military staff arrived and the entire palace was requisitioned by the German Army. In the meantime, the march of the German army eastward, continued. Many Polish war prisoners were seen. Warsaw was heroically defended.

News suddenly arrived that on September, 17th, The Red Army had crossed the Polish border and occupied Wilno. Poland was divided once again, like before, during history. The polish government escaped to Bucharest and with them, many refugees.

The San River became the border between the two occupants. Soon after, German units began marching back from the east and the information that I received from German staff officers was that Lancut would pass to the Russians.

“Not less touching was the fate of the Lancut Jews. In the morning of September 26, they were given six hours to leave and cross the San River. The brutality of this decree stunned the members of the regional council, but their intervention with the Germans bared no fruit. Entire families who lived in Lancut for generations, were expelled from their homes that morning, and were forced to surrender themselves to the kindness of the Bolsheviks. There were some Jews that went into hiding and in a few days, they came to the palace asking for help. I did everything possible to help them escape the Nazi tormentors”.

Further in the book, Count Potocki tells how, together with his mother, they organized a committee to help the Polish poor and the victims of the war without German objection, he pointed out.

In the meantime, his forest guardian escaped with his family. The palace was searched. The Germans were searching for weapons and bomb shelters. He was asked by the Germans not to help any activities against the Germans and not to escape.

There is one more remark in his book concerning the destiny of the Jews during that period. Masses of despairing Jewish people from Germany and Western Poland began arriving in Lancut around Christmas time. It is hard to describe their situation and I am simply unable to describe the complete spiritual meanness of their tormentors. This was an evil brutality beside comprehension, which is hard to believe unless one has personally witnessed the distress of these innocent men, women and children.

Continuing reading his story, it appears that the Count's servants were involved in the underground and had even established a printing shop in a secret room under the palace roof, where flyers and leaflets were printed. The Count was summoned to the Gestapo headquarters in Rzeszow for an investigation. And again, is a piece of his memoirs concerning the Jews.

“Hunting for Jews had begun in the summer, and in August, when the German army had reached the Volga River, north of Leningrad, the anti-Jewish terror had begun in Lancut. S.S. men and Gestapo agents had unexpectedly spread throughout the city, collecting all the Jews, indiscriminately of age or sex.

A few of the most active men and women evaded the manhunt and escaped into the woods where farmers and members of the underground, who lived and were active in nearby villages, were helping them. Through my agent, I let them know that they should extend help as much as possible without arousing the suspicion of the Gestapo and suffer retribution.

Winter of 1942 was bitter and hard. On the eastern front, the Nazi were fighting for their lives. Reinforcement for the German army had constantly streamed through Lancut. In Tehran, leaders of the Allies had convened to discuss the future of Europe. This was the atmosphere in which Count Potocki had spent his last Christmas in the palace of his birth.

The Polish underground had become very active. On one night in March, Mayor Winorwich from Lancut was murdered. It was not clear to the write if he had been killed by the underground or by “adventurous” people. In retribution, the Germans killed hostages.

At the end of that month, Lancut began seeing retreating German officers and soldiers from the Russian fronts. The Red Army was approaching the Dnestr River and the San River. The Count and his mother were afraid of the expected Soviet occupation and went to Krakow, on their way to Vienna. They packed rapidly all the artwork. “Tears appeared in the eyes of the servants” remarked the writer of these lines. That night, bombardiers appeared in the sky over the city.174 containers with belongings were sent on May 10th from the Lancut railroad station. On June 15th, 150 more containers were shipped and in July, 200 more were shipped.

The Germans were digging in along the San River, but on July 23rd, the Soviets broke through and the Count, with German permission, left the city to become a refugee. The first time in his life. First in Krakow and then in Austria.

Abroad, the Count was living through the destiny of his country and his people now occupied by the Red Army. Not too many days passed when he heard an announcement by the Ta's News Agency that the Lancut estate was frozen. Further on, in the same report, the announcement informed:

“The estate of Count Potocki was confiscated in favour of the people”.

Now the Count was in Vienna which was defending itself. The Nazi, Valdor Von Shirach, forbade him to leave the town. The Red Army was approaching the gates of Vienna. Thousands of allied planes were bombarding the city. Radio Moscow reported on the Yalta conference: “Poland was sold to the Soviets”.

In Switzerland, the Count followed the negotiations between the Polish government, headed by Mikolajczik and the Soviets, which completely failed. There would be no return to Poland. “Our loss sank together with the tragedy of the entire nation”. He still managed to hear that the supervisor of the museum in Lancut lived in the palace in his rooms. At the end of his book, he made the following remark (1956-57, France).

“Lancut is now a government museum which is preserved as much as possible, the way it was handed to me by my father and into his hands, by his father. Lately, Count Potocki married a woman from the Lubomirski family. And I thank God for it. Lately, I was happy to hear that Lancut celebrated its 600^th anniversary and that a reception took place in the white room of the palace where they toasted in my honour and the first cup of wine was raised by an old farmer. I became very emotional with the fact that after the overbearing events of the last years, I was still honoured in my home”.

The Polish government is guarding the palace. The era of magnificence has passed the land. Regimes come ang o but the Polish Nation will always live and Lancut is a part in its history.

[Pages 162-164]

Shimon Walzer

This letter was sent from Lancut in July 1938, over a year before the outbreak of World War II, in which the European Jewry was annihilated, including the writer of this letter. The letter is a historic testimony and a looking glass in the noble soul of the writer.

The days are summer days and of school vacation. My heart is lamenting the will to write you, my dear brother, about wonderful visions of nature that catches my eyes and is pounding my heart. I want to write about widespread fields on which signs of ploughing are still recognizable even now when the tall, golden corn ears bow to the harvesters down to the earth; about the trees that are loaded with fruits of different colours and kinds; about the birds that have arrived not too long ago from distant lands. About young couples playing under tress and old men searching for respite on the new bench recently installed. The entire surrounding is joy and song. In the open space, there are herds of cows on the pastures, reddish coloured and young shepherds watching. Clumsy pigs laying down warming their hides. Children shatter around in the streets and play hide and seek. Older youths stroll in the tree-lined boulevards in the city or are busy discussing in the evenings in the club houses. Young people are effervescent and searching.

Still, it is not like it used to be in Lancut. The shining days of the Jewish youths in Poland have gone. You don't see the mass strollers of the Jewish youths during vacation time, humming and singing. Times have changed. The Polish population is progressing but the Jews are segregated from them with an entirely different destiny. You should see how the Polish population looks on Sundays during their mass pilgrimage to the church. The clothing they wear, their behaviour, everything glistens in coloured silk and velvet. But not the Jews. They sit in basements and bitterly struggle to make a living. Everyone is fighting them; everybody oppresses them; they barely survive. The entire world wanted to swallow them. The Jews in the city are walking around in torn clothes. If someone is seen wearing something new, it is a gift from a relative sent to him from abroad. If someone would come to me in the middle of the night, and tell me that there is a possibility to emigrate to Eretz Israel, I would run there naked as in the day I was born, without hesitation or doubt, because I dread this life here, a senseless life of poverty and depression.

And if the Jews did not have enough trouble, another affliction came upon them in the form of “modern” slogans instigated by the “Endeks” calling for a boycott of Jewish stores. They call on the Poles to buy only in Polish stores, and the government plays the neutrality role in this anti-Semitic campaign and helps the anti-Semites in their own way. Searches are conducted among the Jewish youths, looking for weapons because the gentiles have spread rumours that the Jews were arming themselves to defend from Polish attackers. Different decrees were made daily upon the Jewish heads. The plotting against kosher slaughter had raised the price of kosher meat. Soon after, a new law appeared ordering the demolishing of old Jewish storage sheds and new ones were not to be built. Jews stopped building. There is no progress – there is only a standstill or retreat.

In Lancut, the situation worsened. No one dared to go outside at night anymore. They attacked Jews with beards. The Jews had become the scape goats. And what makes me even angrier is that there are Jews who are ashamed with this own language and prefer to speak Polish. In contrast, another Polish minority, the Ukrainians, are fighting for their rights and don't intend to surrender. They proudly defend themselves and are proud of their nationality and language.

At present, you can notice a movement of the Polish population in two directions. Lately, many Poles travel to “Germany” to work. The Germans had promised the workers that they would earn five zlotys a day with food and lodging. Such a promise made the Polish workers happy. But it is not hard to understand the German intentions hidden behind these promises. In any case, these travels are not good tidings for the Jews. The Poles would be in the first line to learn Nazi ideology and it was easy to understand that they would bring them home with them when they returned.

There is another direction where the Poles are heading to; it is, according to rumours, that Ukrainian land is being confiscated and sold to Poles for half their value. The Polish government is interested in settling Poles in the areas inhabited by the Ukrainians and the Ukrainians are taking revenge of their new neighbours by burning their homes and barns and attacking those who come to destroy them.

My dear brother, today is a year since you left our city when you returned to Eretz Israel after visiting us. Since then, my hand refused to obey my heart to put on paper my feelings, the flood of my thoughts that are flooding me now at this moment when I plan to tell you about the conditions of our lives. It is not that simple. Wandering and emigration in on our minds. The Jews are worrying day and night and keep asking each other, what did the radio say? What is new in Eretz Israel? Did it quiet down there? Do they at least let the Jews in Eretz Israel live in tranquillity? These are the questions that all the good and innocent Jews keep asking.

In the meantime, let me talk about us. The days are hot and heavy and everyone is looking for a shady corner. In the evenings they come outside to the gardens and tress and suddenly, low and behold! The Rabbi fainted. The people gather around near the Rabbi's house. They ran to call a doctor but the bad news spread rapidly. The Rabbi has passed away, may his memory be blessed. At the casket of the deceased, a dispute broke out between the Rabbi's son and his son-in-law. They both claimed to be the inheritors of the rabbinic chair. One claimed that he was the rightful inheritor of the rabbinic chair and the other claimed he was more qualified to become Rabbi because he was more of a scholar, and as usual, the sparring sides immediately ran to the “gentile” district ruler. In the meantime, the assistant Rabbi, Reb Alter, stepped into the dispute and later wrote letters to the authorities. Meanwhile, people had with what to talk about in the street and the city square. Bearded people and the young men were standing in the streets listening to hot stories that circled around like the flow of water in a river without interruption.

The funeral took place at night in order to avoid further skirmishes. Meanwhile, it looked as though order had been restored.

But, the small disputes in the city and the big troubles affecting everyone had disappeared for the time being, every time when Eretz Israel was mentioned, especially when the radio reported on the death sentence of Shlomo ben Joseph. The entire city was stunned. People dispersed without uttering a word. The next day, a memorial service was held for the martyr who was hanged for the sanctification of Israel and his land. At the same time, a famous Rabbi happened to be in town. He did not show respect for the martyr which caused an argument in the synagogue. The “Beit Haam” was closed and the Zionist youth went into the street.

In the evenings there were lectures on the subject of Eretz Israel, about Dr. Herzl and the division of Palestine.

It came suddenly when a war atmosphere was felt everywhere. Fighting in China in the Far East, the war between the Soviet Union and Finland in the North and the tension on the Polish-Lithuanian border. The headlines in the daily newspapers had reported on victims and victories. For us Jews, all the events sounded strange and horrible to our ears. The joy of the victorious murderers and the hue and cry of the subdued and oppressed. The Jews did not like the above-mentioned news.

In the meantime, the tax burden got heavier. The government rushed into arming itself and need money. To whom did they turn to ask for the money if not to the Jews? In spite of the fact that they supported the boycotting of Jewish businesses, they oppressed and denigrated the Jews like dust. Jewish commerce was not kosher but their money was.

Life in the Jewish streets continued it a monotonous way. One ray of light was still there, it illuminates in a slow pace, but it was steady and that was the hope to emigrate to Eretz Israel. From time-to-time, people did emigrate to Eretz Israel, even from Lancut. There were some who tried to make their way to the Land of Israel without any prospective that they would be permitted to enter the land. Many of them were sent back and could not fulfil their strong desire and craving for Eretz Israel.

Recently, a hard and brutal struggle took place between the Polish farmers and the authorities. As usual, the struggle ended with the blaming of the Jews. The government wanted to deter the mob away from the problems from which they were hurting and to direct them to a different channel, as usual, we the Jews were the best candidates to absorb the blame for all the troubles, to suffer for the sins of others and to pay for it with our blood. That is why we were dispersed among the “Goyim”. The struggle between the farmers and the government had political intentions. The farmers declared a strike and stopped sending their products to the markets. They did not plough and did not sow. Their intentions were to starve the cities in order to achieve their political and economic demands. Poland had not experienced such a strike since she became independent. The cities had suddenly changed their faces and looked like prisons. When a farmer dared to send his harvest to the city, they mercilessly burned his farm. The struggle was strong and lasted six weeks. During the disputes that came about as a result, kerosene was poured into wells. Wheat in the fields were burned and clothing and food were destroyed. It was a real revolution in the villages.

The government sent strafing police units into the villages, stormed the villages with loud sirens to scare the peasants and skirmishes with the police broke out. Peasant women laid down across the roads to block the police cars from entering villages. Finally, in the end, the government succeeded in suppressing the horrible strike. Thousands of peasants were hauled away in prisons and many of the strike organizers escaped abroad.

As I pointed out, immediately after the strike, free hands were given to the destructors – the Endeks (Reactionary Jew hatred party). They suddenly increased their activities against the Jews. Their slogan was: “The Jews are to be blamed for everything”. A wave of new taxes came down upon the Jewish businesses from one side and stink bombs were thrown into Jewish stores by the anti-Semitic hooligans. Attacking physically Jews became a daily event. Jews were not permitted to come to a Polish village and buy cattle. Doors of Jewish stores and homes were open at all times because of throngs of poor who went from door-to-door, begging alms.

The memory of one Saturday night will remain in my memory forever when Polish hooligans went wild and reached the peak in our city. They tore electric wiring and the city went into complete darkness. Rocks were thrown from every direction. There was not a home where window panes were not smashed, including the synagogue. All synagogue windows were smashed completely. Breaking Jewish windows became a past time routine. When things went bad, the Jews turned to the local priest for help. The intervention helped for a while but only for a short period. And that is how we are spending our days and nights of late, without a chance to escape and without a spark of hope.

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