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Every Sabbath after the 'cholent' numerous Jewish boys would go to the Hill in order to chase the Gentiles who waited for them there. More than one would come home with a hole in his head, or without his hat. Amongst the Jewish fighters, Israel Kreinglass was outstanding on account of his courage and cunning. When he commanded them the Jewish boys were sure of their victory, and they would attack their enemies with a zeal that made the Gentiles doubt if it was worthwhile to fight the daring Jews who outnumbered them in force and were superior in tactics.

In Ostrowiec the relations between the two sections of the population were good, compared to other towns. Until 1904 Jews suffered no injuries. But in the beginning of the 20^th century, the anti-Semitic ideas started to penetrate the town, finding support in the clergy who wanted to prevent the socialist ideas from spreading, as they propagated brotherhood of workers. The churches stared preaching against the Jewish socialism, which purportedly demanded that the Christian faith be abolished and Poland conquered…

1903-05 years were test-years for the Jewish youth of Poland and also of Ostrowiec. Rabbi Meir Yehiel contended that it was better for the young Jews to abstain from politics until the end of war with Japan. In spite thereof, a number of boys – though versed in the Torah and coming from good homes – succumbed to the pull of the current progressive ideas. Ostrowiec, an industrial town, became very much alive as a spiritual center. This upset the Rabbi considerably,

The “Geula” kibbutz of the “Hapoel Hamizrachi”

as he feared that his influence would lessen. He addressed the youths in an appeal assuring them that only their welfare was at his heart and the desire to save them from danger. But the occurrences in town got out of hand and the Rabbi was unable to stop the flow of ideas that swept the young away, so they did not heed his advice any more.

The first attempt by the priesthood and the Russian reactionaries in cooperation with the police was made in 1904, to organize the 'underworld' and some ruthless laborers, in order to attack the Ostrowiec Jewry under the pretext that they were enemies of Christianity and the Poles and that they were making their livelihood at the expense of the poor workers, who worked 12 hours a day. The riots lasted 2 days and one Jew was killed. But the Jewish self-defense, which was secretly organized and was composed of porters and butchers, chased away the rioters and thereby obviated a great disaster which might have hit the Jews of Ostrowiec.

When the Russo-Japanese War was de-

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clared, the Tsar's government announced the mobilization of reserves. At Ostrowiec a search was undertaken for shirkers. Pupils from bourgeois homes tried at any cost to escape the service in the Tsar's army and they even injured themselves badly, on their hands and other limbs, and some even became lifelong cripples. Their mothers prayed at the graves of righteous ancestors asking that they intercede in order to save the sons from the hands of the 'Goyim'. Many parents travelled to Tzadikim to ask advice how to make their sons escape the military service. The synagogues were full of crying mothers who prayed, and paid for prayers to be said, in favor of their sons.

Up to the beginning of the 20^th century, Ostrowiec was a religious town altogether, although it was always split into various strata, like the privileged, the rich, the Hassidim and the scholars who looked condescendingly on the simple people. The masses accepted their fate like an order from above, which should not be disobeyed…

The lower class of the Jews of Ostrowiec, which included the craftsmen and the hired hands, was not organized professionally, as this was prohibited in Tsarist Russia. In those few places where there were unions, the movement was organized underground fashion in cellars, mansards, forests and other hiding places. The inferior class has endeavored to improve their lot, if not with regard to conditions, at least socially. For this purpose, they organized themselves in groups and 'Minyanim' for the sake of prayer and public activities, while they joined ranks with the proletariat and liberated themselves from the contemptuous attitude of those privileged, who occupied the eastern part of the synagogue and the Hassidic prayer-places. This was to some extent a compensation for their hard work which did not leave them enough free time, except for short prayers, early in the morning, before they went off to their work. The hired workers must add some 'overtime' work after the regular working hours in order to satiate the hungry members of their families.

Gradually the waves of the revolutionary movements reached Ostrowiec too. The Jewish youths eagerly listened to stories about the wonderful Western countries where there is freedom for human being, and about the socialist movement fighting for social justice to all. From time to time, an emissary would come from Palestine, and his descriptions of the Jewish settlements established in Palestine and of the Zionist movement which appealed to Jewish youths to emigrate and

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to build anew their homeland – would enrapture the listeners.

The happenings of 1905 shook the region. Near the big factory at Ostrowce demonstrations were staged with slogans against the Russian Tsar's domination and for free Poland. Some of the Jews were frightened by the outright demands and dissociated themselves there from. Others declared themselves openly against the wicked rule of the Tsar and for the humanitarian rule of the kings of England and Austria towards their Jewish citizens. In this atmosphere of social awakening, the Jewish youth slowly found their way of approach to the Polish workers, which belonged to the PPS (the Polish Socialist Party). Thus the first cells of the Jewish socialist party – affiliated to the PPS – came into being. David Frenkel, the son of the famous Rabbi Israel Frenkel of Ostrowiec, was one of the most active members of the party in all of the Radom district. He worked as a clerk in Ostrowiec and as member of the party did a lot for the benefit of the Jews. In 1906 the authorities began to persecute the Jews, and many of the active members of the party were caught and exiled to Siberia. As a result of slander, also David Frenkel was detained together with ten other Jews

The Ostrowiec Rabbi and his followers in the streets of the town

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who were members of the party. He managed to escape from the prison in Siberia and after many adventures reached Western Galicia which was out of the bounds of Russia.

It is noteworthy that when the first le-

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gions came back to independent Poland after t he end of the First World War, several soldiers went straight to Abraham Raczymora, a Jewish tailor, owing to whose slander they were once compelled to leave their town and flee to Galicia. They led him along the Jewish streets of the town, denounced him because of his slander, and at a distance of 2 kilometers from the town they shot him dead. A similar fate befell a male nurse – a Jew who was amongst the slanderers betraying Poles to the Tsarist authorities. Returning soldiers conducted him to the outskirts of the town, where on the morrow he was found perforated by many bullets; was buried duly by his fellow Jews.

After the failure of the attempt to kill the Tsar, the atmosphere became one of utter distrust and many Jews felt that they were on a volcano whose impeding explosion may spell disaster for the people. Emigration started to countries across the ocean.

The situation kept worsening and at the time of the Beilis affair it became unbearable.

Pogrom atmosphere prevailed in the Jewish centers of Poland. One somber Friday, rumors spread in Ostrowiec that the factory workers of the town and surroundings were preparing to riot against the local Jews. The Rabbi, Reb Meir Yehiel called the nobles of the town: Reb Barukh Grossman, Moshe'le Beigelman, and Kestenberg, the owners of the inns at the market-places, and ordered the Jews not to hide in their houses. He instructed them that every Jew, from the age of 13 onwards should keep a watch at his door, an iron bar in his hand, or armed with another cold weapon, and courageously met the rioters. The Jews, who at that time numbered 5000, decided to defend themselves. Some 400 men strong they barricaded the access to the synagogue and to the marketplace, headed by simple Jews with good muscles: Berl Czoczka, Yosl Balos and Zekharia Lomp. Berl Czoczka was the strongest of all the local porters, and his height and iron muscles were famous amongst the town Jews. Loading a sackful weighing 200 kilograms on his broad shoulders was considered by him a mere trifle. This very same Berl organized the butchers, the porters and the brave boys, armed them with knives, hatchets and other cold arms and posted them in the synagogue street to await the rioters. The son-in-law of the Rabbi, R' David Silman, who was the Rabbi of Gostynin, also kept watch over the house of his father-in-law, the Rabbi of Ostrowiec, a sharp saw in his hand, and his lips murmuring “Let my soul die with the Philistines”! When the rioting crowds approached the Jewish street and saw the Jews ready and waiting to meet them – they quickly turned and fled for their dear life.

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In the First World War

The proximity of the town to the Austrian border was cause enough for the seriousness of the Jewish situation there when the hostilities broke out between the Tsarist armies and the Austro-Hungarian forces. Immediately after the outbreak of the war, and by order of the Russian Headquarters, hostages were taken from amongst the Jews of Ostrowiec: they were all released after a short time, due to numerous appeals to the tsarist regime. On its way to the front, Tsarist forces passed the town and caused considerable fright within the Jewish community, who hid in their houses and only ventured out stealthily in order to say prayers at the beth-hamidrash. Mostly, no public services were held at that period.

The entry of the Austrians into the town changed entirely the situation. The soldiers who had money, would buy from the Jews whatever they could lay their hands on. A new source of income presented itself to the poor: smuggling. There suddenly started a lively smuggling from the neighboring townlets and villages of foodstuffs for the hungry town, and the livelihood of the Jews became easier to derive and their life more secure.

However, the Russians soon became victorious again, so that the Austrian had to retreat from Ostrowiec. The Russian army returned to the town headed by generals who were sworn Jew-haters. The dangers of riots and looting faced the Jews. But the very wise Rabbi Meir Yehiel averted all this ordering the Jews to receive the entering Russian soldiers at the gates of the town with gifts of bread and cigarettes. Women and girls stood at the entrance to the town and prepared tea, cakes and sweets for the exhausted Russian soldiers. This reception curbed the frenzy of the Russians, and they failed to touch the Jews. The reception also engendered friendly relations between the Rabbi and the Commander of the town's garrison.

Again something happened that gave the Russian military an opportunity to riot against the Jews of Ostrowiec. In the days preceding the Passover feast, the local bakeries were busy baking matzot, and bread for soldiers was in short supply. The army issued orders to the Jews to supply them with the usual quota of bread, or else energetic measures would be taken against the community. The Rabbi assembled the bakers and ordered them to bake first and foremost the quota of bread destined for the Army. “To save one single Jewish life, I'm prepared to take upon me the sing of baking bread during Passover. I'm ready to take to take upon myself also the punishment for this sin, from God Almighty and also from any blood-and-flesh who may condemn me for it.” Great was his love of Israel and his anxiety to avoid life peril.

In 1915 the Russians suffered a considerable defeat on the banks of Vistula, whereupon he Austro-Hungarian armies returned to the town. Good relations developed between the Jews of the town and the Austrian soldiers whose language they could understand and with whom contact was easy to establish. A period

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The Ostrovtser Rabbi, Yehiel Meir Halevi, the pride of Ostrovtser Jewry

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of calm followed the like of which the Jews did not know for a long time.

In the end of the 1915 summer, soon after the entry of the German army into Ostrowiec, the first public library was established, while the decision to do so was one year old at least, and had been postponed owing to the outbreak of the war. The library became the focal point for all the youths in town, without regard to party affiliations. The founders avoided giving the library any political or social bias, endeavoring to keep its general character, suitable to uniting the various trends of the community and serving as the cultural center of its different circles. Many of the books were collected from private libraries owned by the learned citizens, who shared in the desire of the youth to widen its horizons.

The awakening of the Jews of Ostrowiec applied also to the educational matters, which hitherto wee attended to in a most traditional and old-fashioned manner: a boy started to study at the 'heder' and continued in the beth-hamidrash. There was no question who was suitable to teach? Whoever knew the meaning of the words of the Torah and the Rashi interpretation was entitled to collect some children and start a 'heder' of his own, for beginners. There came a serious change in this attitude: the establishment of parties, in the Jewish sector, also resulted in the establishment of modern schools, where authorized teachers taught in accordance with modern methods of instruction. 'Tarbut' was the first modern school of Ostrowiec, founded by Abraham Malah, A.J. Minzberg, Simha Minzberg, Yehiel and Eliezer Levy, Hillel Brafman, Leizer Satinowicz and Meir Blankman. There were 120 students and at its head was A. Kastenberg in the capacity of the director, while his wife served as his assistant. Later also the Mizrahi school was opened, by Moshe Lederman, and admitted several hundred pupils under the directorship of A. Weiner. The third modern school was the Elementary School of the Poaley Zion with 150 students. It is worth mentioning that also the Talmud Torah in the center of the town, which existed for long, now changed its methods and started to teach its uniformed pupils, also secular subjects.

Ostrowiec Jews were greatly stirred when across enemy lines the news reached them of the newly announced Balfour Declaration of the British Government. There were some Jews who intended to sell out and emigrate to Palestine, while others fought the Zionists and the 'dangerous illusion' of the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. From the two extreme ends of the Jewish community came the opposition to Zionism: from the Hassidim who contended that only the advent of the Messiah can bring salvation, and from the 'Bundists' who expected the social revolution to be the harbinger of the redemption, through the change of the universal order and through the relief of the oppressed classes and nations, including the Jewish people…

On one of the November days of 1918 an unusual excitement was felt in Ostrowiec. Rumors had it that the Austrian

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army prepared to leave and the Poles wanted to disarm them. Jews barricaded themselves in the houses for fear of lawlessness, which used to prevail in times of change of authority. The Poles organized civil defense forces which had for the task of keeping order during the change-over. But the momentous historical fact of the rebirth of sovereign Poland, after hundred and more years of division, did not occur without riots against the Jews. In the months of November 1918 – January, 1919, the attacks of the legionnaires on Jews became a daily occurrence. The 11^th November 1918, the same day when the church bells announced to the whole world the cessation of 4 years of a bloody war, and the armistice, signaled also the beginning of terrible days for the Polish Jewry. Drunk with victory, the Polish legionnaires found a fine entertainment for themselves: cutting the beards and side locks of the Jews who crossed their path in town, or pushing out of the fast going trains Jewish passengers.

Along with the Poles celebrating their independence, a new page was turned in the Jewish history, that of a long fight for their elementary human rights, until the Polish Jewry ceased to exist in the terrible holocaust, the like of which was unknown in the entire history of mankind on earth.

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