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The guests from abroad were Chaim Malcmacher and Mrs. Schneider from London.
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[Page 454]
Thirty-two years have passed since the last Jews were deported from Przytyk by the Nazis, with no possibility of ever returning. There were illusions in the hearts of some that they nevertheless may be able to find refuge in the city in which they were born and raised, where their ancestors had lived for hundreds of years. These illusions melted away when they realized that the Poles were relating with deathly hatred to any Jew who dared return to the town.
We do not know the number of Jews of Przytyk who survived the Holocaust. We are not like the nations of the world. They returned to the places where they had lived before the war, to reconstruct the ruins and build new houses. After some time, they were able to figure out how many of them were absent. To our sorrow, we did not have anywhere to return and gather the survivors. They dispersed to various countries of the wide world. We wanted to correspond with them, to at least find out their numbers, to forge contact with them. However, despite our efforts, we did not succeed.
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| A group of Przytyk natives in Israel meeting in Tel Aviv with their fellow townsfolk in 1954. The guests from abroad were Chaim Malcmacher and Mrs. Schneider from London. |
From despair, apparently, and from loneliness in their new places of residence, they escaped from themselves and from
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their past. The past was cruel, and it was better to escape from it, to forget and cause to forget. Perhaps by abandonment and neglect, they did not try to connect with us.
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Right to left: David Zeitani (chairman of the Organization of Przytyk Natives in Israel), Avraham Goldstein, Palta Friedman, Leib Shotland of blessed memory, Zeev Wasserman, Pinia Friedman |
The natives of Przytyk in Israel, the only place that absorbed the majority of the Holocaust survivors, could not come to terms with this abandonment and estrangement. They came up with the idea of forming an organization that would serve as a center for natives of our city throughout everywhere they were dispersed, and would publicise the past prior to the Holocaust as well as the Holocaust itself. After the survivors arrived in the Land during the years 1948-1956, a group consolidated that would make sure to gather at least once a year and to arrange a memorial day for the Jews of Przytyk who were kipped. The first organizers of this were Moshe Furszt of blessed memory, and may he live, Yitzchak Friedman, who attracted the rest of the natives of our city to follow after them.
We deliberated a great deal about which day of the year should be established as the memorial day for the Holocaust. Not every Jew of Przytyk was in the ghetto. They were scattered throughout the area, and the date of death was not the same. Therefore, we could not establish the day of the expulsion from the ghetto to the death camps as the memorial day. Finally, March 6, 1936, was established (according to the Hebrew calendar[1]) as the memorial day for the martyrs of Przytyk. That was the day when the enemies of Israel prepared to perpetrate a mass slaughter of the Jews of Przytyk. Approximately five thousand incited farmers from the nearby villages organized themselves to come to the town and slaughter the Jews. A great disaster was averted only thanks to the strong resistance of the Jews. This situation shook up the enlightened world.
When the first memorial books of destroyed Jewish communities of Poland appeared, we also took upon ourselves the task of publishing a memorial book for the community of Przytyk. To that
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end, a committee was formed, consisting of Dvora Burstyl of blessed memory, Yitzchak Friedman, Meir Shapira, Mendel Honig, and Chaim Gil.
For that purpose, the committee turned to the former leader of Polish Jewry, Mr. Yitzchak Grynbaum of blessed memory, who directed us to places where printed material on the city of Przytyk could be found. We contacted natives of our town in the Diaspora and asked them to provide material and financial assistance. Our member Mendel Honig traveled to Paris for that purpose. We sent memos, appeals, and letters to all Przytyk natives wherever they were.
In 1964, the task of editing and publication of the book was given to Mr. Shtokfish. Through his effort, a pamphlet (prospectus of the book) was published and distributed to all those to whom we could. We received 150 microfilms from Shalom Honig of Indiana, United States, which he received from the YIVO archives. We received newspaper clippings with photographs from 1936, the year of the disturbances. In accordance with the advice of Mr. Shtokfish, we approached the archives of Yad Vashem as well as Poland, and they provided us with material about the town.
In 1968, Mr. David Zeitani (Baumelgryn) was chosen as chairman. He serves in that role to this day. He was assisted in the publication of the book by Shmuel Burstyl, Gedalya Blicher, Devora Burstyn of blessed memory, and Mendel Honig. The following assisted us in the printing of the book: Shlomo Meir Przytyky, David Friedman and his wife, Shalom Honig, Menashe Burstyl, and Yaakov Miller – from the United States; and from England: Maltz (Malcmacher). From Paris: Shalom Velvel Zimbalista and Helen Baum.
The committee of the Organization of Przytyk Natives in Israel remains in constant contact with natives of our city in the Diaspora. It intends to continue with memorial activities, mutual aid, and other activities.
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| A portion of the crowd at the annual memorial to the martyrs of Przytyk (March 7, 1972) |
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| Members of the committee and leadership at the annual memorial of March 7, 1972 |
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| The annual memorial in Tel Aviv in memory of the martyrs of Przytyk, March 3, 1973[2] |
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| Przytyk natives in France next to the memorial monument for the martyrs of Przytyk in the Paris cemetery |
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[Page 463]
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| The cover page of the material for the Yizkor book sent to us from Przytyk in 1965, decorated with the symbols of Poland (an eagle) and of the State of Israel (a menorah) |
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