The Great Synagogue – front
The Great Synagogue – Eastern Wall, and the Old Jewish Cemetery site History of the editors of the Bulletins of the American Piotrków Survivors: Bulletin: Roman Mogilanski (1966-1981) New Bulletin: Ben Giladi (1982-1996) Henry Schafer (1998-2001) The Voice: Ben Giladi (1996-2004) Voices: Ben Giladi (2004-2012) Hedim/Voice: Netanel Yechieli (2013-2014) Dr. Dina Feldman (2015) Contact: [email protected] Committee of the Piotrków Trybunalski Association Irving Gomolin, President Alex Rosenblum, Treasurer Robert Dessau Richard Gomolinski Stephen Jacobs Harry Krakowski David Rapaport Joseph Rosenblum Alan Silberstein Contact: info@Piotrkówassociation.org Tri lingual Web: Piotrków-jc.com Web's management: Igal Shapira and Dr. Dina Feldman Contact: Dina: [email protected] Facebook Group – Jewish Piotrków: https://www.facebook.com/groups/739605566143637/
Cover Design & Layout: Dalit Rahamim Porduction: Orion Publishing House Translation of the Hebrew articles: Dr. Miriam Shahak Content 4 Irving Gomolin | President Article In Memory 6 Naphtali Lau – Lavie | of Blessed Memory First Generation 8 Moshe Brem | "I Want to Be Free" – a Child in the Ghetto 14 Jakób Kurtz | The Ghetto's Gardner 16 Ken Waltzer | [The Return of Piotrkówers to] Schlieben: the Forgotten Concentration Camp 21 A Letter from David Cameron to Ben Helfgott 22 Moshe Dagan | An Holocaust Witness: "I have won!" Once Upon a Time 26 Hot Balloon in Piotrków Governorate 28 Daniel The Bandits' Leader 30 Daniel Warzocha | A Polish Historian from Piotrków 31 Zigmond Tenenbaum | Street Art in Piotrków Tombs' Tales 32 Dina Feldman and Justyna Scieglinska | A brothers' tomb in the Piotrków Jewish Cemetery Second and Third Generations 34 Adi Wolfson | "The Third One" 38 Avi and Dov Nutkewitz | Split Image - A roots' trip to Piotrków, July 2015 Book Review 42 Krysia Plochocki (Ejchner) | "I Was There", Book Review In the Honor of 45 Juda and Fela (nee: Katz) Rosenblum The Organization 46 Annual Hazkarah 47 Second Generation Membership Notice Polish zdjęcie Wrażenia z wyprawy do ״Rozpołowione״ | Dov i Avi Nutkiewicz 48 Piotrkówa, lipiec 2015 52 Jakób Kurtz | "Boże, zmiłuj się!.." 53 Shabaton 2016 is Underway 4 || The Voice
President Article
Dear Friends, The Piotrków Trybunalski Association (PTA), New York, USA and the lanzmanschaft in Israel are pleased to provide you with the third annual multilingual issue of Hedim/The Voice. This periodical represents our collaborative efforts: to provide a multilingual publication accessible to a worldwide and ;״Hedim״ readership of the original Israeli publication The״ to continue the legacy of Ben Giladi z’l who published .and whose life work centered on commemoration of Jewish life in Piotrków ״Voice In the last 8 years there has been renewed activity among survivors and descendants of Piotrków around the world and especially in Israel and the New York area. Details of many of our activities were summarized in the 5775 issue. In the last year the committee in Israel has become better organized and collaborates closely with the Diaspora group as we engage in ambitious projects including:
1. Maintenance and repair of the cemetery; 2. Cemetery signage to explain to visitors the significance of the various graves and cemetery sites; 3. Construction of a memorial on the site where our families gathered (Umshlagplatz) before transport to Treblinka; 4. Enhancing in the Great Shul the historical display of life until the war; 5. Raising funds to provide English and Hebrew translation to the book published in Polish in 2014 on the life of Piotrków Jews in the ghetto by Dr. Dina Feldman and Anna Rzedowska. All these efforts are meant to memorialize and commemorate our heritage. This way when any Jew travels to Poland our city will be an important place for them to visit and learn about our history. Our group in the greater New York region is small but fortunate to have close cooperation and common goals with the Israeli leadership. I am especially grateful for my friendship with Dr. Dina Feldman and many others for sharing in this common The Voice || 5
goal. I would also like to thank our friends in Piotrków for all the collaboration provided on an ongoing basis. We have been fortunate to have received a matching funds grant from the Claims Conference to allow publication of this issue of Hedim, and to support the development of the trilingual website: www.Piotrków-jc.com. However, in order to maintain our mission we also appeal to you to volunteer your time and to contribute to the Israeli Society or to our charitable tax exempt association in the USA. For further information on our activities please send us your contact information including your email address. Further inquiries may also be directed to our email address. B’vracha l’ Shana Tova Ervin Irving Gomolin (Gomolinski) Piotrków Trybunalski Association, New York, USA info@Piotrkówassociation.org
From right to left: Irving Gomolin, Beata Dessau, Anna Rzedowska, Robert Dessau, NYC, July 2015 6 || The Voice In Memory of
Naphtali Lau-Lavie – of blessed memory
Naphtali Lau-Lavie – diplomat, reporter, an Israeli public figure and honorary citizen of Jerusalem for 2003 – passed away 6 December 2014. He was born in Kraków in 1926 to Haya and Rabbi Moshe Haim Lau, who was the last Chief Rabbi in Piotrków Trybunalski (1935 – 1942). He stayed at the Piotrków ghetto during World War II and was transported to Auschwitz with a group of non-Jews, but escaped and returned to Piotrków. His father and brother Shmuel – Isaac, along with most of the Jewish community of Piotrków, were transported at the end of October 1942 to Treblinka, where they perished. His motherHaya, Naphtali and his brother Yisrael-Meir – four years old, remained in the Hortenzia glass factory. Two years later, in November 1944, his mother was taken to Ravensbrück, where she perished. The Voice || 7 The brothers were taken to a forced labor camp in Częstochowa, and from there to Buchenwald. Saving his younger brother so courageously has been depicted in various documentary movies, articles and books. Lau made Aliya to Israel and lived many years in Ramat Gan. He was a reporter with the Ha'aretz newspaper (1956 – 1970). After Moshe Dayan was appointed Minister of Defense, Lau was chosen by him to become his spokesperson. Lau moved with Dayan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and took part in the Camp David American-Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks. In 1981, Lavie was nominated Israeli Consul in New York, and in 1985 – as CEO of the United Jewish Agency in Israel. Lau lived his last years in Jerusalem, in which he served as deputy chair of ILAR – the World Jewish Organization that handles restitution of lost Jewish property during the Holocaust. He had lectured at conferences and different forums about the Holocaust. Lau co-edited, with Jakób Malz the memorial book of Piotrków Trybunalski and its vicinity, published in 1965. His personal biography, in Hebrew, entitled, "A People that Riseth up as a Lioness…" was published in 1993 and in English - entitled: "Balaam's Prophecy" - in 2015. In 2006, his eldest son, Dr. Rabbi Benni Lau published in Hebrew a Book of Honor at his father's 80th birthday - entitled: "A Nation Alone: Homeland and Diaspora." Lau, of blessed memory, was married to Joan (née Lunzer). They have four children: Benni, Shay, Haya and Amichai, grandchildren and great grandchildren in abundance.
Lau – Lavie's book 8 || The Voice First Generation
Moshe Brem: "I Want to Be Free"1 A Child in Ghetto Piotrków
Marek with his father Jakób and with his mother Hella2
Before the War The first two years of my life passed in utter bliss and wealth in the harmonious, calm and most fulfilling life of the Brem3 and Gomolinski4 families. Both families owned businesses, houses and assets in the city and outside, that enabled many
1. The article is based on memoirs that Moshe Brem told his wife Aliza, in Haifa, during 2007. The article was prepared by Dr. Dina Feldman in 2015. It is dedicated to the off springs of the Brem and Gomolinski families - those that perished in the Holocaust and those that survived it. 2. The pictures are from the Moshe Brem's collection 3. The family lived on 14 Rawenska St., where we lived until our deportation in 1944. 4. The family lived on 21 Piłsudski Str. The Voice || 9 Polish and Jewish families to make a decent living. The Brems had haute couture sewing and tailoring workshops and shops. The Gomolinskis were in the meat business. Both families were highly respected in the Jewish community of Piotrków, where they had been living for many generations, for their decency, generosity and professionalismThe invasion.
The invasion Towards the German invasion in September 1939, my father was re-enlisted to the Polish army. From then on, throughout the War years and until I made Aliya to Israel, with my mother, in 1947, I did not see my father. As the W ar progressed we were informed that my father had been taken as POW by the Russian Army that invaded Poland from the East. Immediately upon their military occupation, the Germans raided and looted everything, including my grandpas' businesses. But soon the Brem's business was recognized as "essential for the War effort" by the German officers (and their wives) for which the Brem business tailored elite suits and coats. We had 'Work permits' which assisted us in our daily survival and ensured immunity from deportations and liquidations. Those days, city residents and refugees were all transferred and packed in apartments within the Ghetto. This included my grandparents' house in which my mother and I, as a special privilege, were allowed to live together with the rest of the family.
William We were visited by German officers from time to time and my mother prepared special dishes for them. I vividly remember the S.S. officer, William, who was notorious in the ghetto for his cruelty. He liked to come to our house to enjoy my mother's delicatessen that she had prepared specifically for him, like: rolls, onion and eggnog that also were served at home on Shabbat and holidays. William was escorted at all times by a ferocious dog, known for its cruelty. It was larger than me and scared me terribly. When it chased me running around I used to hide in the buffet, under the staircase. The dog would come to my hiding place, sniffs me and growls at me, to the sheer delight of the German officer who greatly enjoyed the scene. My mother's foodwon us privileges on his part and saved our lives many times. 10 || The Voice The Aktion My grandpa and my uncle Abek Brem had contacts with a Polish family that lived on the Aryan side whose family members had worked with us before the War. Since October 1942, prior to every Aktion, that had become routine, my grandfather and uncle would smuggle my mother and me, and additional members of our family, out of the ghetto, by hiding us in a group of workers that went outside the Ghetto. From there we were taken to thePolish family. The family was well paid for doing that as were the Germans in charge of the working group. Grandpa and uncle Abek did it even though some of us had 'work permits' because they knew that if my mother witnessed a deportation of her family she would decide to join them.
While still dark just before dawn my mother and I, my aunt Mania and other women got ready to leave. The women wore brown men's clothing and hats that covered their body and faces so as not to be identified. I, then five years old, was put in a sack, in which a small hole was pierced for me to breathe through. I was told to remain absolutely quiet and motionless. My mother's brother Josek, carried me on his back all the way to the Polish family. During the days, we stayed in the cellar that was reached through a wooden door in the kitchen, then down into an underground food storage place. I cannot precisely recall how much time passed and what we did. All I remember is that My uncle Abek I had to keep quiet. As the house was isolated and surrounded by fields, we were allowed to go out into the yard at night. I also remember how deeply moved I was at the sight of the wide expanse visible to me: the clear sky and the bright stars. I then told my mother to prepare a small pouch for me to embark on a tour of the wide world. I must have had the inspiration through a children's book read to me that was about a child wandering in the world. I wanted to be as free as he was. When the Aktion was over, we were taken back to the Ghetto in the same way and by the same people. I remember that upon arrival, as I was taken out of the sack, I was stunned, confused and blinded by the direct light and the loud applause of my The Voice || 11 family: grandpa, mom, aunt Mania, two of my mother's brothers, Rebecca (Regina), her younger sister, and others that were happy to see me alive. Before the last Aktion my uncle smuggled my mother and me out again. When we came back we found out that grandpa Gomolinski, Beniek -my mother's 19 year old brother, and Regina -my mother's 17 year old sister, together with Rabbi Lau and many others, were transported to Treblinka to their death. Other people were rescued from the Aktions thanks to my family. They were supplied with the 'work permits' of my hiding family members. As example, Abraham Yehieli (Kornanz) told me, that his mother and sister were practically pulled out of the Great Synagogue at the very last minute thanks to grandpa Gomollinski's intervention and were saved. My mother also shared with me that, Amiram Gefen (Weinberg), among others, was taken out from the Synagogue by my uncle Abek under his coat.
The annihilation of the Ghetto The Ghetto was narrowed down, daily. My family understood that we had to get ready for its total annihilation. Grandpa invited a goldsmith to the house to melt large amounts of gold into small bars, which he distributed to all members of the family with the hope that it would help them to survive. By the end of 1943, Piotrków was declared "Judenrhein". My mother and I moved to the carpentry plants of "Dietrich und Fisher", by the Bugai river, as highly needed workers. I remember being in a group of children whose job was to peel wet tree barks that were immersed in water in a pit. We were lowered into the pit with many tree logs that had been soaked in boiling water. Every one of us had an ax we used in order to peel the tree barks with. I returned at the end of every day crushed and wounded with bleeding hands.
The liquidation In November 1944, the Germans announced that all Jews have to show up at the Umschlagplatz. We were told that the men will be sent to labor camps in Germany. Nothing was said about the destiny of women and children. All remaining Piotrków Jews showed up the Umschlagplatz on 24 November, including my family and me. Each of us had a small bundle that was all we owned then on earth. From there, we walked to the city freight train station on our way to the unknown. As we were walking, Idek, my mother's brother, asked her about her boots. She said that she was ordered to leave then in the shoe pile. He got anxious. Gold bars, meantsurvive, were hidden in their heels. We were forced to go back to find 12 || The Voice those boots in the huge mounds of thousands of shoes. I was amused by the time consuming rummaging and happily threw shoes up in the air to the top of the shoe mound. Suddenly, my mother identified her boots, put them on and left her shoes on the mound. The boots and their contents saved us from hunger and death many times over. We returned to the train station, where I followed reluctantly. There was a staircase at the station's entrance, at the top of which was a gate, from which people came to a big yard that ended with a platform. A line of Ukrainian soldiers stood there with their brownish yellow uniforms and boats like barrettes that impressed me. There were also German soldiers in neat lines with their grayish silvery uniforms and visor caps. My uncle and mother proceeded to the train wagon, but I stopped to watch the soldiers. One of the Ukrainian soldiers approached me and sent me a glance that I returned. When he was close to me he pushed me, forcefully, with both his arms in the direction of the train. There were two cattle train wagons in the station. Rumors had it that one of them was meant for men going to labor camps and the other for women. My grandpa Brem and my uncle Idek were on the men's wagon. My uncle Josek, with a friend, had managed to escape from the trainyard earlier. The men's train was occupied, among others, by Lolek, Rabbi Lau's son, who was my age, and his brother Naphtali, who had watched over him like a father. The other train wagon for women had me, my mother and Naphtali's mother, Chaya, who was a close friend of my mother's and our next door neighbor. After we were pushed into the train wagon, someone came from the men's wagon and told my mother that he had been sent to take me to the other train to have a better chance of surviving. My mother refused. Whatever her fate was to be, it was going to be mine, as well. She wouldn't give up on me.
The Journey The cattle freight train was on its way. We were sitting on a dirty floor squeezed tightly without being able to move a limb. The journey went on forever and we lost track of time. Crowdedness and suffocation burdened us terribly. My mother and I leaned against the wagon's wall. Above us was a small window latticed with barbed wire. I stood on my mother's shoulders to get some fresh air from the window, looking at the passing scenery. Suddenly an amazingly beautiful castle and other unfamiliar sights came into view. Meanwhile, the train slowed down before crossroads a few times and enabled trains loaded with ammunition and soldiers to pass. At one of those crossroads, I saw three soldiers in uniform, without their hats, The Voice || 13 on leaning onto a barrier. They were wounded, one's arm was in an iron cast, the second one was with crutches, and the third, holding a dog on a leash, had his face nearly completely bandaged. Our gazes met for what seemed an eternity to me. I recall their gazes, cold, devoid of pity or compassion as if they had no knowledge of what lay ahead for us…
Moshe Brem was born 15 September 1937 in Piotrków, survived the Ghetto with his mother and was transported to the women's camp at Ravensbrück, and from there to the Bergen-Belsen, where stayed in the camp as a refugee from 1945 to 1947, until his father arranged for their Palestine papers, permitting them to come to Palestine. His mother, himself, and Amiram Wienberg (Geffen), who had been entrusted to them, made Aliya in 1947. Moshe lives in Haifa with his wife Aliza. They have two children: Amit, their son and Inbal, their daughter and their grandchildren: Noam, Itamar and Ilan.
Al. Piłsudskiego w Piotrkowie5
5. http://www.epiotrkow.pl/multimedia/foto/6bf8c55c75f86d6239697fe39787fde9.JPG 14 || The Voice
Jakób Kurtz: The Ghetto Gardner6
"…the area allocated for the Ghetto is going to be narrowed dramatically. The beautiful and pleasant places one could still enjoy and get some fresh air at – are going to be pronounced outside the Ghetto area. There will be no place to breathe. I took the initiative upon myself to organize certain actions that will, at the right time, be opportunities to plant, and every bit of free soil – will enable some fresh air in the suffocating Ghetto, we are about to live in. After consulting with Nissanzon, the head of the housekeeping department in the Jewish Counsil – the Judenrat, over whom I had some influence, I took my offer to the President of the Jewish Council, Mr. Warszawski, who liked my idea. He even added that, like in previous years, the community administration has to cultivate all city grounds and gardens, within the Ghetto as well, as Jews were forbidden by law to do it privately. We brought together a certain group of interested people and established a committee of neighborhoods and buildings’ representatives that would publicly announce the initiative, to attract the youth that would most likely support it. The crux of the suggestion was that while the enemy wants to choke us within four small walls into which it has pushed us, we will plant flowers in the very places where filth and stench have existed until today and fresh flowers and plants will spread good smells to revive us with. There was criticism too, but the general decision was that everything that can, should be done, and even more, in that initiative. Work was outstanding. We elected a committee that would tour the entire Ghetto to prepare plans and do sketches. Mrs. Grynszpan prepared plans for vegetable gardens and
6. From Jakób Kurtz : A testimonial: Memoirs of a Jew rescued from the Nazi dungeon in Poland. Tel Aviv, Am Oved, 1944. Pages 219-221. Brought to printing press Dr. Dina Feldman. Kurtz was born in Piotrków. He immigrated to Israel returned for a visit and was caught in the Ghetto until 20 October 1942. His testimony was the first to be published in Israel. The Voice || 15 plants for every yard, separately. And we went to work right away. The famous professional, Mr. Ruask, was invited. When we got to talking it turned out that we had known each other before, in Tel Aviv, where I lived and he was the chief gardener at an exhibition in Tel Aviv…
To get to work without further delay, we decided to organize a group of twelve people that would start the actual work right away. Due to intrigues, work was delayed, but our toil had not been in vain none the less. The Ghetto’s look had drastically improved. The municipal commissar, Crazy Buss, filled his mouth with praise about the planted squares in the Ghetto. In Zamkowie Square, where there was practically no air, I enlarged it and placed benches to sit on. I also decorated other squares in the ghetto with shrubs and flowers and added benches in the shade. The Jews who sat there, regularly, blessed me, directly or indirectly, with longevity. In the middle of squares, I also organized recreation areas for babies to play in. I planted vegetable, flowers and trees in many places around the city. Thus, Jews could breathe fresh air and enjoy even the hot days of summer. Even those among the Jews that were used to annual summer camps and spas enjoyed the patches of grass, the green and the flowers in the Ghetto. For me, it was heart filling. From five in the morning until evening I took care of my flowers. Work relaxed my nerves and made it easier to bear the suffering of the day. People were astounded as to my patience to deal with such trifles, but to me it was the other way around. It is flowers that enliven my life. So, I became a gardener and the municipal commissar, Buss, endowed me with the .״The Ghetto Gardener״ title of 16 || The Voice [The return of Piotrkówers to]
Schlieben: A Forgotten Concentration Camp7
Ken Waltzer8
Tafel KZ Schlieben9 Schlieben is located on a plateau about two kilometers north and above the brick…״ and cobblestone village by the same name, a 90-minute drive to the southwest of Berlin. The countryside is marked by rolling green hills and flatlands and by ever- present tall steel windmills gathering energy from winds to turn huge turbines. The area is quite poor, with narrow job opportunities in the new Germany and new Europe.
7. Found to be published here, by Dina Feldman, who added the highlighting and photos. 8. http://www.2ndgeneration.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Journal-issue-34-2010.pdf, Ken Waltzer. Schlieben: A Forgotten Concentration Camp, Michigan State University JOURNAL, 2010: 24/2/10 12:04 Page 6061 9. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tafel_KZ_Schlieben.JPG The Voice || 17 Earlier, the Schlieben concentration camp operated in 1944-1945 as a sub-camp of Buchenwald, where slave laborers were brought to work for the Hasag Company and manufactured Panzerfaust (hand-held antitank weapons). About five thousand male prisoners were brought from Buchenwald and one thousand female prisoners from Ravensbrück .There were at the camp Italian POWs, and others, and German women volunteers from the village who worked alongside many younger prisoners. Of the male prisoners at Schlieben, there were 294 Piotrkówers, largely from the Di-Fi factory on the Bugai, brought to Buchenwald on 2 December, 1944, and taken to Schlieben on 8 December 1944. (Another 60 prisoners on this transport remained at Buchenwald, including several Ghetto leaders, Warszawski and Gomberg,15 children and youths.) Among the Piotrkówers who were at the Hasag operation were: Ben Helfgott, Zvi Mlynarski (Tsvi Dagan), the Rosenblat brothers, Isaac, Abraham, Sam, and Herman; Idel Gomolinski, and others.
Ben Helgott10
Recently, on 17-18 April, 2009, there was an international forum in the village on Amateur historians ״.Schlieben, a Forgotten Concentration Camp״ the history of with ties to the camp and its history or to the village, including Uwe Schwarz of Cottbus, Germany, whose father Faivusch was a prisoner, Jean-Louis Rey of Paris,
10. Helfgott competed in the world weightlifting championships from 1954 to 1960 and captained the British weightlifting team in the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 and again in 1960 in ,of 1950 ״Maccabiah Games״ Rome. He won the gold medal in the lightweight category in the 1953 and 1957. http://limmudfsu.org/2012/10/04/a-decade-after-the-holocaust-ben-helgott-lifted-weights-at- the-olympics-what-came-next/ 18 || The Voice France, whose grandmother Odette was a prisoner, and Uwe Dannhauer, the deputy mayor of Schlieben, organized the forum and publicity and helped generate a large turnout. Piotrkówer descendant Ron Rosenblat of New York, the son of Sam and Jutt Rosenblatt, and I participated as American visitors as well. We were assisted by a local translator. On Friday, 17 April 2009, Uwe Dannhauer led a group of about 35 people and reporters from Berlin on a walking and driving tour of the site, including old buildings and bunkers and the remains of the factory and foundry deep in the pine forest. Uwe made a special effort to show Ron Rosenblat the remains of the Gisserei, or foundry, where his father and uncles had slaved, pouring liquid chemicals into the grenade heads. Ron was agitated by the discovery, standing on the ground deep in the forest where his father had been years before. Then, on Saturday, 18 April the forum took place in a tightly packed town hall. Of special interest was Ron Rosenblat’s talk about his father and uncles. He showed a segment of Sam Rosenblat’s Shoah Visual History Foundation videotape on Schlieben. I spoke about the recent Holocaust memoir fraud, Angel at the Fence, which focused on Schlieben. Of course, there was no angel at the fence and Schlieben was anything but a place for young love to blossom along a camp fence. It was a brutal place where prisoners were forced to slave for long hours, day and night, without adequate food, exposed to dangerous chemicals without protective equipment and were tormented by SS guards sent from Berlin to make the prisoners produce what was expected of them. Ron Rosenblat and I took lots of pictures of the former concentration camp and its ruins, of the Banhof where trains arrived, of the barracks and kitchen buildings which have been renovated and are still used, and of a mass grave and memorial in the village cemetery, including those of 100 Jewish prisoners most whom died during an explosion that is still unexplained, in 12 October, 1944. We also photographed Hasag paraphernalia and Panzerfaust weapons on display at the town hall connected with the forum. At the forum, Holger Worm, a German policeman, offered a history of the Hasag ammunition firm and its connection with the camp, which opened by using slave labor in June-July, 1944. Uwe Dannhauer described the camp’s layout and design. Uwe Schwarz provided a history of the men’s camp and Jean-Louis Rey spoke about the women’s camp. Then, following a break, Ron Rosenblat made it possible for The Voice || 19 many Germans in the area to hear - probably for the first time - in his own words and voice - the testimony of a former Jewish prisoner talking about the work and routine in the camp. Sam Rosenblat, who made the tape in 1996, talked about the dangers those who worked cooking the chemicals and pouring them into the grenade heads had faced. They would turn yellow from exposure and suffer internal damage from the toxic We got yellow, lost our appetite, our eyes popped out. Suffering was״ .fumes he said and the translator relegated it to the audience. Finally, I told ,״indescribable the gathering about Herman Rosenblat, Sam’s brother and his search for fame with a false story and about how Sam, in his final days, had stopped speaking with his younger brother. A few questions rounded up the gathering - then people left the hall and continued talking about the history of a forgotten camp and about future efforts to create a promotional association, put up memorial signs, create a small museum/archive and win site designation. A second forum on the camp is being planned for next year. For the Piotrkówers who came to Schlieben in late 1944, nearly six months after the camp was opened, things were quite difficult. The stronger ones, Sam thought, were put to work with the chemicals in the Geisserei. Others worked inside the factory assembly and still others worked on the transportation Kommandos, lifting, carrying, unloading, and moving goods and equipment. The youngest prisoners, like Ben Helfgott, Zvi Hersh Mlynarski, and Herman Rosenblatt worked in the Zuenderpackraum, packing triggers. Other prisoners called it the Kinderpackraum because so many youths were there. The workshop was warm, the work was sedentary, packing״ :Ben Helfgott recalled on an assembly line, and the German women volunteers shared their food with Conditions in the barracks were also difficult. Sanitary conditions were ״.the boys terrible and Helfgott remembered the lice in the ceilings that dropped down on prisoners in their bunks at night. Many prisoners were covered in blood from constant scratching. There was also insufficient food at Schlieben and many prisoners weakened sharply. ,another prisoner had told me ״,Forget it about food - we were starving, starving״ complaining that there were not even leaves to eat in a camp set in a pine forest. At times, additional food was available by barter with the Italian prisoners, who were permitted food outside the camp. They smuggled in vegetables, carrots and other things. Other prisoners stole sugar beets off the trains or organized potatoes from the kitchen cellar. There was also some danger from the Allied air war at Schlieben, although the camp was deep in the forest and was bombed apparently only once. Most prisoners took 20 || The Voice pleasure in the bombings which severely impacted nearby Dresden and Leipzig, slowed night production in Schlieben, and indicated the war was going poorly for the Third Reich. Finally, in early spring, 1945, as the Russians approached from the East, the Nazis evacuated Schlieben and took most prisoners in two transports to Theresienstadt, in April. Most prisoners, including most of the Piotrkówers, were liberated in May by the Russians a short time afterwards. While some returned to Poland after liberation, most did not have anything to go back to, and most who did return, like Ben Helfgott, had dangerous experiences. Subsequently, many younger Piotrkówers taken to Prague and flown in British planes to ״boys״ were part of the group of Great Britain. Among these were Ben Helfgott, Zvi Hersh Mlynarski, and Herman Rosenblat; Sam and Isaak Rosenblat, who were older, accompanied the group as counsellors. It was a special experience for me to be at the former camp with Ron Rosenblat. Ron followed his father’s footsteps from Piotrków to Buchenwald with Sam when he was alive and had recently been in Piotrków after his father’s death. The trip to Schlieben closed the circle for Ron, and being with him meant that I got to share it. It was also special to meet Uwe Schwarz and Jean Louis Rey after more than a year of email virtual friendship. They had taught us both so much about the camp. Finally, it was a thrill to see German interest in the history of the camp, the fate of the prisoners and the possibility to actually carry out preservation and commemoration at the site and even to create a small museum/archive. We have only just begun.....
The monument wall to the victims of Schlieben11
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HASAG#/media/File:Denkmal_Berga.JPG The Voice || 21 The Letter of David Cameron to Ben Helfgott 22 || The Voice
Moshe Dagan: A Holocaust Witness: ״I have won!12״
As a witness in Auschwitz.
Moshe Dagan recounts: I’ve lived in Israel as an Israeli for fifty years. I did neither want to know nor delve״ into the past. I never wanted to go to Poland over those years, because there was nothing for me left there. I only started to talk about the past when my granddaughter wanted to write her Roots’ project for school. When I retired, in 1989, I was suddenly taken by deep longing for Poland and went there a number of times with my wife, Aviva. I’ve returned to Poland 14 times since then as a Holocaust witness, escorting youth and General Security Service delegations until very recently. I was also on the Parliament Members’ delegation for the War’s Seventieth Anniversary.13 It was
12. Interviewed, at the Gibton village, on July 1 and 16, 2015, edited and brought to print by Dr. Dina Feldman. 13. 26 January 2014. The Voice || 23 especially very moving and symbolic for me to go with Israeli Parliament (Knesset) Members to Auschwitz. To let them see firsthand and hear from us, the survivors, what had taken place there - for generations to come.14 Excitement ran high as did memories.
A memorial monument for the deceased at the Piotrków Cemetery.15
While travelling I managed to place memorial headstones at the Jewish cemetery of Piotrków - for my brother Abraham Fish, who was murdered there along with 38 Jews for producing Aryan certificates16, and at the Bliżyn camp17 - for my brother David Fish who was with me there18 and died of typhoid in 1944. I volunteered to serve as a witness when I was invited to the screening of the movie: at Beit Gordon, which was organized by Daniela Beck, manager ״The Paper Clips19״ of Beit Dror20 in Rehovot. Daniella recounts: Moshe is one of the most amazing people I have ever known and one of the most״ active among Beit Dror witnesses. I am introducing him as a vivid example of a person who has gone successfully from Holocaust to Resurrection and build a
14. http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/544/358.html 15. http://www.gidonim.com/he 16. The execution took place on Wednesday, first day of the Pesach week, 21 April 1943. 17. http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/blizyn/13,sites-of-martyrdom/21476,nazi-forced-labor- camp-in-blizyn/ 18. http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/blizyn/13,sites-of-martyrdom/21476,nazi-forced-labor- camp-in-blizyn/ 19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_V6Of63nd8 20. An educational center dedicated to dialogues, awareness and lessons regarding the Holocaust by direct meetings between survivors and students It is affiliated with the Rehovot Municipality and its department of Education. http://www.rehovot.muni.il/Mada/science/Pages/beitDror.aspx 24 || The Voice meaningful life. Moshe shares, faithfully, what he had been through during the Holocaust and his brave arrival to Israel.21 His testimony is moving, filled with optimism and the love of man and life. The high school students connect with him ״.wholeheartedly Moshe shares: During the screening of the movie, the principal of the De Shalit School invited״ me to be their witness in the trip to Poland along with their guide Yaki Ganz. I agreed. In the beginning, I was totally immersed in my inside journey, but later on, when I recognized places and recalled memories I shared everything with the ״.young students Yaki Ganz22 shares: At one of my lectures at Yad LeBanim23 – Moshe came up to me and told me ״ about a group of 39 people who tried to escape the Piotrków Ghetto, a story that was unknown to me. They were caught and murdered in the Jewish cemetery. He asked me to help him commemorate the memory of his brother Abraham who was among them. I did that during one of my trips, and then with him for his second brother. In 1998, when the De Shalit and Katzir schools asked me for a referral to a witness I offered Moshe. Moshe swept the students off their feet with his care and kindness and they returned to him with many warm reactions and letters.
With the children he was a doting father, with the Security Forces – a comrade. Both learnt a lot from him and appreciated his presence. He came solely with his story and shared it matter- ״.of-factly, honestly and reliably Moshe says: I agreed to become a witness because I believe״ it is a mission through which people will remember better the Holocaust.
on 13 March 1947. His ״Shabtai Luzinski״ Moshe entered Israel with the illegal immigrant ship .21 group was part of the Palmach units, the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the YishuvJewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine, that were trained in Brindisi, Italy. 22. Dr. Dina Feldman interviewed Yaki Ganz in Rehovot, 16 July 2015. 23. The Association of Families of Fallen Soldiers of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Security Forces. The Voice || 25
The״ :According to Moshe two of the peak moments during these journeys were: the meeting with Jan, manager of the Auschwitz – Birkenau archive, who found my name on the Auschwitz list; and the convention in Wannsee, in 2004, where we were seated under the photos of the Nazis .,of the Jews, in that same room ״The Final Solution״ ,that had planned ״!I won״ :While sitting there, fully alive, I knew
Moshe Fish (Dagan) was born in Piotrków to Zelda and Ruven 15 April 1924. The family lived on 41 Jeruzalemska Str. that was the last house on the border of the Ghetto. His parents and sister were sent to their death in Treblinka. Moshe worked in the ghetto in forced labor assignments, like: flattening river banks, clearing stables and hanging curtains. Then he worked at the Bugai Plywood factory and 24.״Shop״ until his brother’s Abraham’s death in 1943, as a messenger boy in the Then he, his brother David and many others were transported to Bliżyn. Moshe was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in October 1944. He stayed at what used to be the Gypsy camp for two weeks but was then taken to forced labor camp B where he worked at disintegrating planes that had been brought down during the War. Moshe was taken on a Death March in January 1945, through the Czech Republic to Austria, and in an open train to Mauthausen where he stayed for two days until being taken to Melek to build bunkers for the German’s secret weapon. Two months later, he was taken to KZ Ebensee, where they neither worked nor ate for an entire month until the Americans arrived. Moshe and his sister Sarah Fish Leizerowich, who came to Israel illegally in 1939, were the sole survivors of their entire family. Moshe is married to Aviva (nee: Zaifman) and they live in Gibton. They have two children: Reuven and Ofra and grandchildren: Reuven’s: Aya, Erez, Noa and Yael; and Ofra’s: Tamar, Daniel and Tal.
24. A Center for handicrafts, within the Ghetto. 26 || The Voice Once upon a time25
Hot Balloon in Piotrków Governorate26
From Tomaszów27 of the Piotrków״ Region comes the announcement that in the village of Lubochnia,28 by Spała,29 in the area of the Government forests30 a hot air balloon has come to the ground with four people in it. These people visited the Emperor’s Palace,31 in the forest. The farmers nearby informed the Police authorities caught the fliers and brought them to Tomaszów along with their balloon. The four do neither reveal what their intention has been nor ״.who they are
A Polish hot air balloon32
25. Found, deciphered and brought to print: Dr. Dina Feldman. 26. Article from Hatzfira Newspaper,Friday, 5 December, 1913. page 5. 27. Tomaszów Mazowiecki that had been in the Piotrków Region until 1998, and since then in the province of Łódź. 28. It was part of the Piotrków Region until 1998. 29. Until 1876 it served as a guest house for the Russian emperors Alexander III and Nikolai II and later for the German Emperor William II. It was situated in a dense forest and served as a hunting site for the nobility. 30. Nowadays it is a National Park called: Spalski Park Krajobrazowy 31. At the time of the article’s publication the owner of the place was Czar Nikolai. 32. Advertisement for a Polish hot air balloon, from 1808. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balon#/ media/File:Afisz_lotu_balonem_z_Foksal_Jordakiego_Kuparenki.jpg The Voice || 27
Spała woods33
33. http://www.wsiodle.lodzkie.pl/pl-def/poi/3274229/ 28 || The Voice
Daniel - The Bandits’ Leader 34
The leader of the bandits’ gang, Daniel,35 murdered״ the Jewish carter and his daughter36 on the road between Piotrków and SulejówSulejów37. As we have informed, he goes about on roads and into small villages nearby looting and killing. Soldiers on horseback and on foot have gone looking for him in forests, but he hasn’t been caught yet.
The emblem Gubernia Piotrkówska 38
34. An article from Hatzfira, Monady, 20 April 1914, page 3. All background information about the robber and his victims was taken from: http://jahjahpromotions.wix.com/magazynhis#!Daniel-Szteffer-postrach-Sulejowa-i-okolic- cz-I/cjds/554c78450cf21fee1375fbaa Articles appeared in the Polish press like Nove Reforma, 28 april 1914. http://jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=216640 35. It is about Daniel Szteffer, son of a German settler, who in the spring of 1914, just before the outbreak of World War I, turned into the area’s threat through his looting and assaults. He started stealing from his father and neighbors at a very young age, to later join horse thieves and start robbing people. His brother Michael died at an early age and it is speculated that Daniel poisoned him. After his mother died his father moved to Przygłów. One of Daniel’s two sisters had a house in Piotrków. He was soon caught, sentenced to three years imprisonment and then a longer term, but in effect only served three years in jail. He worked at the Sulejów strip mines but soon enough returned to his criminal ways and became even more dangerous, killing relentlessly without discretion, especially those who had turned him in. He was active in the whole area and the road passing through the Przygłow Forest between Piotrków and Sulejów, the Hebrew article is referring to. 36. It is referring to Yoel Novak and Zosia, his 18 year old daughter, and his son. Daniel avenged him for testifying against him in court. 37. It is a summer resort near Piotrków that belonged to the Piotrków region until 1998. About a thousand people died of German bombings in September 1939, including many of the city inhabitants who tried to flee to the woods around Sulejów. Today, these forests are a park called .״Sulejowski Park Krajobrazowy״ 38. Dating to the period of the Polish kingdom which was active from 1876 until the German- Austrian conquest in World war I. Taken from: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gubernia_Piotrkówska#/media/File:Coat_of_Arms_of_ Piotrk%C3%B3w_gubernia_(Russian_empire).png The Voice || 29 Papers inform that the Governor-General39 decided to have cavalry where the bandits are hanging out in order to make an effort to eradicate the gang. In autonomous ״places, the hooligans are to be handed over to the army.40
Daniel’s region of activity41
The way to Sulejów42.
39. Michal Jaczewsk, was governor between 1910-1914. Information taken from: https http://www. ePiotrków.pl/encyklopedia/J/Jaczewski-Michal,219 40. At a certain point authorities understood that they were dealing with a mass murderer who is threatening the whole region. The murder of the mayor and his family was a turning point in their determination to catch Daniel. 41. http://jahjahpromotions.wix.com/magazynhis#!Daniel-Szteffer 42. http://www.map4u.pl/pl/cms/zasoby/woj_lodzkie/lodzkie_przyroda/parki_i_rezerwaty/sulpk 30 || The Voice
Daniel Warzocha – A Polish Historian from Piotrków
I have lived in Piotrków since my birth on 6 March, 1979. I studied at the Maria Sklodowska- Curie II High School, and in 2003 I graduated from the Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce - the Piotrków branch. Since 2007 I have worked as a History teacher in several schools within Piotrków and the area: in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Belchatow, Niechcice and Moszczenica. Currently, I am working at the school for adults in Rozprza. Based on my MA The newspapers in Piotrków during״ thesis, I published a book in which I describe .including the Jewish ones 43,״the years of 1867-1915 During my research I became familiar with the Jewish community that lived in the city for many generations, until the late 1970s, and was impressed by their intellectual, cultural and political wealth. Since then I have published numerous articles on historical themes, mainly about minorities in Piotrków, in the independent cultural-historical Piotrków magazine revealed ,(״Kurier - Culture and Reality״ )״Kurier – Kultura i Rzeczywistość״ name by Paweł Reising since 2002.
The following are some of my articles, all in Polish: 1. Prasa żydowska w Piotrkówie Trybunalskim (1914- 1939) – about the Jewish Press in Piotrków. 2. Udział mniejszości żydowskiej w Radzie Miejskiej Piotrkówa Trybunalskiego (1919-1939) – about the Jewish Representatives in the Municipal Counsil. 3. Z dziejów Piotrkówskiej synagogi – The History of the Great Synagauge. 4. Dr Zygmunt Tenenbaum – The Chairman of the Post War Jewish Community in Piotrków.
43. Edited and published by the Society of Piotrkow Friends, 2007 The Voice || 31
Street Art in Piotrków44
Zygmunt Tenenbaum45
Many passed through our yards, be it merchants, music.…״ players, singers, and tightrope walkers who had various performances on little pink mats. There was a theater too, a man with a record player, monkeys who mimicked how an old woman carries water. There were people with music boxes. We would watch them from our windows and throw them coins wrapped in paper. Many years ago Wolf, who carried a music box was very famous in Piotrków, especially on the Jewish streets.46 record player 47 He was an old Jew. His beard grey and had a shiny barrette on. The heavy music box he was carrying bent his back.48 When he played sad tunes he would close his eyes and mumble something. Moishe the Kozak always walked with Wolf. He had a crater with two large lenses49and would explain the pictures as they moved before our eyes. These stereoscope were pictures of Constantinople, capital of Turkey, Gorzkowice50 and all the kings since the creation of the world. The man in tight shorts was that French king, Napoleon. There was a picture from the Japan-Russia War that depicted a huge Russian farmer holding a small Japanese in one hand and A Russian״ :a whip, he was smacking him with, in the other. Moishe explained ...Thus was Jewish livelihood ״.caught a Japanese and he is slapping his ass
44. From Hedim, booklet 32, October 1994 page 17. Translation from Polish: Genia Finkelman. Added notes and pictures and brought to press: Dr. Dina feldman. 45. Dr. Tenenbaum was Chair of the Jewish community after World War II until his death in 1972. His book: Gawenda o dawnym Piotrkowie, Piotrków Tryb., Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Piotrkowa, was published in 1991 by the Piotrków municipality. 46. http://www.mbsi.org/images/gallery/large/23.jpg 47. https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/media/File:Holmes_stereoscope.jpg 48. It was one of those big music boxes carried like a backpack, and the man plays it by manually turning the music wheel. Its sound would attract people from afar. It was a common instrument on fairs and city high streets at the beginning of the 20th century. 49. This probably a stereoscope. 50. Gorzkowice, a village 22 KM south of Piotrków. There were 1511 Jews in the village on 16 June 1942. Information taken from ZIH 211/803 page 41. 32 || The Voice Tombs’ Tales
The Brothers’ Tombstone in the Jewish Cemetery of Piotrków, 1873
Dina Feldman and Justyna Scieglinska
Section P. Tomb no. 103
Tomb description: The headstone on the grave is of the brothers Btsalel (17 years old) and Ruven (12 years old), the sons of Tsirla Liba (ne: Hamburger) and Jakób Tenenbaum51 who died seven months apart. It resembles the two tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments are engraved.52 The right side is larger than the left one, probably
51. We would like to thank Dr. Tomasz Jankowski for the identification of the parents, the family name, and the brothers’ ages .. 52. The rounded tombstone head of a single grave is typical of Jewish tombs. In this headstone is a special effect of the two tablets which is a central Jewish motif signifying the connection between the People of Israel and God. It appear also in single graves, as well , to mention the pious deceased. The Voice || 33 to state Btsalel,’s seniority. Neither their dates of birth nor their ages, as well as the initial P.N – here are buried - are engraved on the stone. The decoration53 at the top is that of a felled tree54 and a fledgling55.
The English translation: For these I weep my eyes, my eyes56 are running down with water, About which were cut57 their years my sons the two of them The son Btsalel and the second son M. Ruven my sons The rabbi’s wife M’ Jakób Yantshe May his light shine Passed away on 4.187317)?(. Passed away on 2.11.1873 LPK58 RIP59
,Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which is in the heavens above״ .53 is stated in the ״,or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth second commandment in the Bible. Therefore, the Jewish community did not allow any artistic expression by means of visual arts. Still, Jews, since ancient times, and over the ages , have decorated sites, sacred objects and tombstones with various pictures. as on this headstone. In Askenazi cemeteries decorations of animals after the name, character, genealogy, cause of death, and more of the deceased - were common practice. http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/art/yahadut/tsiyurim.htm When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in״ .In the Bible a tree symbolizes human life .54 making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the .Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 20, 19 ״field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Deuteronomy-Chapter-20 .Therefore, headstones are typically decorated with trees, usually those mentioned in the Bible. Most common among those trees are olive trees, vines and figs that are among the seven kinds of fruits the land of Israel was blessed with. A broken branch or tree symbolizes death at young age. Here, the deep roots of the tree are prominent, seems like those of a fig tree, signifying a large branched out family, whose branches had been cut down. 55. Birds are typical to women's tombs. A bird that spreads her wings or feeds fledglings id typical to young mothers that passed away. Fledglings on the tomb symbolize the death of young children. For״ .״my eye, my eye״ :Lamentations, 1. 16: In the Hebrew original text, it appears in singular .56 these things I weep; my eye, my eye overflow with tears, because a comforter, one who could refresh and restore my soul, is far from me. My children are desolate and perishing, for the ״.enemy has prevailed Whilst it is yet in his״ :In Hebrew: Niktephu. The biblical reference for this word is Job 8,12 .57 .״greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb 58. Literally: In accordance with Small detail: excluding the thousands (notation after the enumeration of the Jewish year, represented by Hebrew letters, when it is without the thousands of years) If men rise״ :Samuel 25, 29 .״may his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life״ :Literally .59 up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from .״the hollow of a sling 34 || The Voice Second and Third Generations
"The Third One"
Adi Wolfson60
In memory of my grandmother Miriam Rapoport (nee: Steinberg) of blessed memory (1918-1991) who was born in Piotrków. The Zero Hour 61
First Second Third Generation you were triumph mother an offspring and I memory of who I am?
The count continues Forth Fifth Six a free people in our land62 What will be our end?
What will be with me? In the middle: great grandmother Bilha Steinberg. Behind her, her three older daughters: Golda, Miriam (my grandma) and Hanna. At the bottom of the picture: Golda’s grandchildren
60. Adi Wolfosn is a poet and a chemical engineering Professor at the Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, and is active in the area of the environment and sustianability in Israel. He is married+3 and lives in Beer Sheva. 61. Written by Adi Wolfson. Translated from Hebrew by Aloma Halter. Israel National Anthem – ״Hatikva״ From .62 The Voice || 35 The house I grew up in had no special feature or habit that were connected with.…״ the Holocaust, still there was a different feeling on the Holocaust Memorial Day. Only upon growing up, the precise moment of it happening evades me now, did I learn that my grandmother Miriam Rapoport (nee: Steinberg) of blessed memory, who passed away when I was a year and half old, was a Holocaust survivor and that other members of the family of both my parents were all murdered then.
Grandma Miriam, grandpa Aron and their daughter Bilha
My grandma, born in May 1919 to Billa (nee: Shintel) and Joel Steinberg in the city of Piotrków where she grew up. There were seven siblings in the family: Golda (1901-1941), Hanna (1907-1943), wife of Meir-Fish, Eliezer (1914-) who married Adela and survived the Holocaust, Sara (1921-1943), Haya wife of Joseph Lifshitz, who survived the Holocaust and Juda, who survived the Holocaust as well.
My grandmother stayed at a few labor camps during the War including Auschwitz- Birkenau, where - at a rare moment of candor she told my mother - she had met notorious Dr. Mengele who decreed life to her and death to her mother, her sisters ״First Generation״ and their children. That’s how, without her choosing, she became a survivor and passed the memory of the holocaust to us, her children, her grandchildren .״Second, Third and Fourth Generations״ :and my children, including the titles 36 || The Voice and could hardly tell us ״Second Generation״ My mother never used the term anything about what had happened there. The Holocaust was neither central in Third״ sociologically defined״ her life nor in ours. For me, like all my peers, the .she was part of the national collective memory ,״Generation I remember that when I was six or seven years old I felt how the Holocaust was connected to my life, when my brother and I wanted to have a dog. My mother objected. Only after complying did she share with us how she would walk the street with my grandmother and every time they saw a dog it reminded my grandmother of the dogs the Nazis had, which had made them move to the other pavement across the road. There were arguments between my mother and her brother, when they were older, about whether or not my grandma actually did or did not have a number on her arm, or whether the Kapo had given her food, which she smuggled to her brothers in the men’s camp nearby, had loved her or abused her. That’s when bits and pieces about her post-war life, her great love to feed others, her card games with her friends – conducted solely in Polish – the sessions with psychiatrists and her unsuccessful suicide attempts, all trickled into our lives. But, my strongest connection with the Holocaust and my grandma came about through the assignment that my mother gave us in Holocaust Memorial Days. We were taking my grandma’s Yellow Badge that had remained with her after the War and was passed on to my mother. I remember how it aroused great interest among both pupils and teachers, and how I was telling the little I knew about my grandma and her journey. And, thus, paradoxically, my grandma’s Yellow Badge made us ‘special’ in every Holocaust Memorial Day. In 2008, after my mother’s pleading, I went with her on a Roots’ Trip to Poland. We travelled to my grandma’s city of Piotrków, visited the old Synagogue that had turned into a local library and found the house my grandma was born and raised at, with the use of an old document that had found its way to my mother’s possession. The city was utterly ugly, the day was humid and hot and the house looked like any other, with its back yard dense with weeds and neglect. My mother had never heard anything about this place from her mother and couldn’t verify that it was indeed the one. She spoke poor Polish, that suddenly surfaced from her childhood, with the neighbors and land owners and they didn’t know or wouldn’t say who lived in the house in the past. We then went to the old Jewish Cemetery in the city, where we met an old lady who leafed through a pile of yellowed old pages and looked for the names of the family members. She took us among decaying tombstones to the graves of my grandmother’s sister and that of my maternal great grandfather, who passed away before the War. I remember thinking how their names came back to life with my family. The Voice || 37 …..Afterwards, when I am nearly forty years old and my eldest son Tar before his Bar Mitzvah. His questions regarding his Jewish and Israeli identity unveiled the things again and I found myself writing one poem and then another, in a manner I hadn’t known before, that were full of queries to my grandma, my mother, my wife, my kids and especially myself. It seems that only when my children Tar, Hilly and Yoad grew up and started to ask questions about remembering the Holocaust, was I asked to check how that memory was The grandson – Adi Wolfson absent-present in the life of my family and me and what I wanted to supply them with for the rest of the journey. It turns out that my children- The were the first to clearly -״Fourth Generation״ ״.Third Generation״ define me as
It was .״The Third One״ :All these led me to the publication of my book of poems without specifying which ,״Third Generation״ the first time I defined myself as Third I was referring to: sociological, biological, cultural, universal or all of them put together. I had no way of knowing then where this definition was to lead me in my search for meaning.
Omen63 You had arguments about the number that was or was not on her hand on the Kapo who loved or exploited her and about the tiny details you garnered over the years from life
But the yellow star we endured every year with a sense of mission to school was testimony with pride and pain to me being a Jew
63. Written by Adi Wolfson. Translated from Hebrew by Aloma Halter. 38 || The Voice
Split Image - a Roots’ trip to Piotrków, July 2015.
Avi and Dov Nutkewitz
Moshe Nutkewitch with friends64
When we disembarked the train that had brought us from Warsaw, we saw the blue on the platform, but could not take a picture of ״Piotrków Trybunalski״:sign reading our first impression of Piotrków, birthplace of our father Moshe, because the battery of our camera was empty. At night in my dream I saw (Dov) the sign and stopped the bus we had been travelling in for nine days in Poland, and ran to take a picture of it. The cars passing behind my back threatened me while I was trying to take that picture. It was only towards the end of my dream that I managed to take that picture but it came out splitted :Half was the sign and the other half was smooth and opaque.
64. Moshe is on the right of the group. The Voice || 39 We thought it could have been the metaphor of our trial to grasp, understand and life then about which our father had told us :״now״ with ״then״ recreate and connect with our inner and outer being today. Our internal emotional picture was divided and making the connection, feeling the bond between past and present was virtually impossible, like the picture in the dream. We toured Piotrków escorted by English speaking Justyna, a young vivacious guide who was born in the city. Once in the Jewish cemetery, after moving between the graves, Janina, a second generation graveyard keeper, a skinny, wrinkle faced old lady, invited us to her house, which was in the area of the graveyard. She offered us to read the list of tombstones at her disposal. She painfully disclosed that her neighbors male treatment, as befits someone living in the Jewish cemetery to take care of it. Our hearts cringed. My father had worked with the Kara glass factory. We went there too. One of the factory Polish veteran workers, who still remembered working alongside the Jewish forced labor workers during the War, agreed to escort us on our tour. My father took part in the construction of one of the building in the plant and then for two years carried coal to light the stove for the glass production. We walked about the older sections of the factory and reached the place where the stove had located. In our memories the stove was amongst the ‘good’ places – being a source of warmth and cooking facility at times – within the weave of the ‘evil’ stories we had heard from our father. Going up to the roof of the plant we had a view of the city, the workers’ quarters that were built nearby in 1943, after the annihilation of the ghetto and where the Jewish workers, among them our father had lived. We saw the railway tracks that passed near it, too. A short while before we went into the Kara plant, standing by the railway barrier, we read the description of the Jewish workers – and Polish ones as well - from written by the city townsman, Jakób Kurtz in which he ״The book of testimony״ described how in October 1942, they abandoned their work, went up, in terror and tears, to the mound, to watch their families crying for water through cracks in the train wagons on their last journey to Treblinka. We had only just finished reading the segment when a contemporary train honked and rode past us…on the very same tracks, near that precise plant, where the big, .״Kara״ :old sign was still hanging on its outside wall reading 40 || The Voice
Kara
We went to the Raków forest, from there, and Justyna brought us to the Memorial Monument for the Jews murdered in the forest. She was surprised when we complied with her request that we will visit the monument for the Polish people who were murdered and the one built in memory of the Russian soldiers who died in the area, as if saying that it was far from self-evident that we, Jews, will be interested in the suffering of others. Upon our return to the city we entered the impressive Synagogue and its neighboring Beit Midrash – place of Torah study - that had become the municipal library. At our request, the book ‘The locomotive’ by the Jewish writer and poet Julian Towim, was taken off its shelf and we leafed through it. Everybody there knew the book. We felt rather proud for the contribution Jews had made to the Polish culture, be it even slightly. .at 11 Starowarszawska ״Jewish street״ Our father’s house is still standing on the There is a row of warehouses along the edge of the back yard. They seem to be situated where the outhouses used to be. So it seemed to us upon looking. When we peaked into the stairwell we saw an old wooden staircase. It looked like from back then… Suddenly, we were close to ‘back then’, close to our father, his sisters and The Voice || 41 brothers running up and down the stairs. We held on to the railing and went up to the second floor. He must have lived in one of the flats there. We did not knock on any door. We did not walk in to have a look. Weary Polish or Gypsy day workers live there now. They, too, were present in our father’s stories. Lunch with Justyna at the Rynak Trybunalski enabled us to get to know her a little better and ask her about the source of her interest in the now extinct city Jewish world. It was interesting to hear that an Idan Reichel’s song she heard, by chance, aroused her interest in Jews and in those who were living in the city ... That too is Poland today… We brought with us the sole photo remaining of father in the Ghetto, where he must have been about 20 years old, walking the street with two friends, all wearing suits. The edge of each one’s sleeve had a white badge. It seems it had a Star of David on it. The same background buildings changed only slightly. The past is present or hiding in it. We are still in Rynek Trybunalski. Now we are sitting in a café at a meeting we initiated ahead of time with three of the city inhabitants. Among them an English teacher working in one of the local schools, to serve as a translator. We wished to get to know a bit the local people. The talk was lively revolving mainly about their work and life, and when it suddenly got a chilling and moving turn. One of the women announced that she wanted to tell us a story about a golden ring she got as a child from her mother and about her family – grandparents and parents that were poor before the War, about them probably going into Jewish houses… and becoming rich after the War… her looking for information about the ring and meet with evasion and silence. That’s when she started to suspect that the ring belonged to a Jewish girl. She recounted it in tears and pain. Her shame and guilt were obvious. She had to muster courage to have told us all of that, Jews she had met barely an hour earlier, as if she ‘had been waiting’ just for us all those years to unload herself of this heavy weight. We werethe first Jews she had ever met. We were surprised. To think that a city that had 18,000 Jews thattook important part of the economic, political and cultural life she would only have met Jews for the first time today? If so is the case…a chilling thought suddenly hit us: Piotrków has actually Been what the Nazies planed .clean from Jews ,״Judenrein" Maybe there are no overt Jews in Piotrków today but Piotrków is deeply vivid and rooted in our awareness. Our father passed away in 2010 and on on his headstone we wrote in Yiddish: (A Piotrkówer Jew)"ּפיעטריקָאווער ייד" 42 || The Voice Book Review
Krysia Plochocki (Ejchner) – ״I Was there״
A review of the book: The Jewish Ghetto in Occupied Piotrków65
Krysta and mother, 1947
that was ,״The Jewish ghetto in occupied Piotrków״ ,I read a remarkable book published in Poland last year. The authors - Anna Rzedowska, a Polish writer and historian from Piotrków Trybunalski and Dina Feldman, an Israeli psychologist and researcher from Jerusalem - wrote a heart wrenching and meticulously documented book about life and the extermination of the Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto. Piotrków Trybunalski is a Polish town with over eight hundred years of history. Spanning from the mid-fourteenth century for about four centuries it was a site for gatherings of kings, knights, noblemen and clergy that established the law of the country the Polish parliament and the Crown Tribunal. At the beginning of World War II, Piotrków had about 60,000 inhabitants, including
65. Anna Rzedowska and Dina Feldman, Jewish Ghetto in Occupied Piotrkow. Biblioteka Piotrkow 800 Press, 2014. (in Polish). The Voice || 43 about 15,000 Jews. Nazis established the Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto on 8 October, 1939 as the first one in occupied Europe. Due to the influx of refugees from a number of smaller ghettos in the area, the Jewish population in Piotrków Ghetto almost doubled. Eventually, in October 1942, most of Piotrków Jews were sent to their death in Treblinka and the Majdanek gas chambers. The book presents a broad picture of life in the ghetto as put in place with an iron fist by Germans. Malnutrition, starvation, infectious diseases, little children begging for food, overcrowding, forced labor, robbery of Jewish property, general pauperization, strict limitations on all normal human and social interactions and all ,״resettlements״ activities, daily persecution and humiliations, executions and resulted in a high death toll even before the ghetto was liquidated. On the other hand, the authors also show a convincing picture of the Jewish community fight for survival, especially for the rescue of the children, for maintaining their under ״kind of life״ humanity through cultural activity, in other words – leading a enormously hard and increasingly hopeless conditions. The book holds large amount of statistics, referrals to German and Judenrat’s documents, published and unpublished testimonies and memoires recorded by the survivors, lists of names of persons sent to hard labor camps and murdered. It is based on a variety of sources in Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, German and English. By quoting numerous testimonies the authors give individual names to persons and families that most of whom perished. This feature makes the book so real, human and forceful that it actually conveys feelings of doom, of being trapped and defenseless, of the noose gradually tightening. It is my belief that - thanks to broadly available Holocaust studies and education, literature and portrayals in the media - the degrading and deadly living conditions of Jews in ghettos and the ultimate extermination of whole communities became more or less a widely accepted knowledge. In contrast, the psychological condition have״ of a ghetto is much more difficult to transfer. I suspect that only people that can actually read the despair, horror, hopelessness and mental torture ״been there behind the statistics, historical data and particularly the photographs. I was there. I am one of the Hidden Children of Holocaust still alive. As a barely four year old, I became an inmate of the Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto. My mother and I escaped from the ghetto just before its liquidation, in October 1942, when I was seven. We survived the rest of the war in hiding. Some people doubt that a child that young can remember life in the ghetto the way it was. However, I feel that my memory, even if it does not contain important facts or events of historical value, reflects more than mere observations. In other words, 44 || The Voice I know how it did feel to be a child in the ghetto: not knowing but feeling. That is why I wrote this review. In addition to being always hungry and scared, I remember having painful sores caused by malnutrition. I remember my grandmother saying, whenever she would I remember ״!that’s a fortunate woman – she died in her own bed״ ,see a funeral grown-ups talking with envy about the death of our relatives poisoned in their sleep by carbon monoxide. I remember the whispering adults, feeling of crowding and tension, enormous pressure of air. I remember Yom Kippur of 1942: instead of the usual prayers, there was the wailing and begging for mercy of people that had lost all hope..... Two girls, ten or twelve years old, the sole survivors of their entire family, which had perished of typhoid, remained in my memory as the essence of life in the ghetto. These two, their hair shaven, skinny as corpses, with gray eyes taking up half their faces, came to our house daily to receive one boiled potato each. They would grab their potatoes and, without a word, run away. Such memories, seemingly always present at the back of my mind, returned with great force, when I read Ann’s and Dina’s text. Most important to me is that I could recognize the place, the people, how the people behaved and how they felt. I could I can .״Childhood in the ghetto״ see myself there, especially in the chapter titled easily imagine feelings of a child being given away to a Christian family to save her, but it is still beyond me to imagine feelings of the parents. .״Clandestine education״ Another chapter that moved me almost to tears is titled This is also about children, children ten to 15-16 years old, coming for classes taught by my mother, Bajla-Ruda Ejchner, in our cramped, little room, in which four adults and two younger kids lived. They were happy they could go to school and they always showed up with their homework completed. .... And, I remember what my mother told me after the war that of her about 35 pupils three survived. One of the three was Ben Giladi, the founder and leader of the Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto Survivors Organization, another one was my cousin, Stanislaw (Rysio) Pawlowski. And, in addition, even those who did not survive, had a few years of almost normal childhood, they could forget for a few hours that they were in the ghetto....
This remarkable book is accessible only in Polish for the time being. I believe its English and Hebrew translations may find broad and interested readership. The Voice || 45 In the Honor of In honor of and in loving memory of our parents/grandparents (zaidy and bubbie), we support the efforts of the Piotrków Trybunalski Association and our colleagues in Israel who produce the Voice/Hedim and serve to preserve the memory of the Jewish history of Piotrków.
Rosenblum, son of Piotrków ״Yidle Moishe״ Juda December 8, 1915 – June 24, 2007 (Son of Joseph and Sara (Janklewicz and brother of Pessel, Naomi, Hannah, Nakeh and Goldeh) Kac (Katz), daughter of Piotkrow ״Faigle״ Fela March 8, 1919 – August 12, 2013 (Daughter of Zyskind and Miriam (Rozensaft) and sister to Leizer and Chaya)
Survivors of the ghetto and Auschwitz, Kaufering, and Bergen Belsen Married October 31, 1945, Felderfing, Germany Alex and Sabina (Grossberg) Rosenblum; Marissa Rosenblum; Cara and AJ Reisman Joe and Roberta (Chalfin) Rosenblum; Lauren Rosenblum; Amanda Rosenblum; Rachel Rosenblum Saul and Audrey (Hefferon) Rosenblum; Nathan Rosenblum; Nick Rosenblum 46 || The Voice The Organization
Annual Hazkarah
The Voice || 47
Second Generation Membership Notice
48 || The Voice Polish
zdjęcie ״Rozpołowione״ Wrażenia z wyprawy do Piotrkówa (lipiec 2015)66
Dov i Avi Nutkiewicz
Gdy zeszliśmy z pociągu który przywiózł nas z Warszawy i zobaczyliśmy na okazało się, że wyładowana bateria ,״Piotrków Trybunalski״ :peronie niebieski napis naszego aparatu fotograficznego uniemozliwia nam utrwalenie tego wzruszającego pierwszego momentu naszego spotkania z Piotrkówem - rodzinnym miastem naszego ojca. ,Widzę ten napis znowu, zatrzymuję nasz autobus״ :(W nocy miałem sen (Dov którym rozjeżdżaliśmy 9 dni po Polsce i biegnę go sfotografować. Fotografuję z trudem i długo, nie zważajac na mijające mnie za plecami z ogromną szybkością, auta. Dopiero pod koniec snu, udaje mi się utrwalić napis. Ale… zdjęcie okazuje się ״.rozdwojone: w jednej połowie zdjęcia - część napisu, gdy druga połowa - zamazana Pomyśleliśmy że może to metafora dotycząca naszej próby: wczucia się, zrozumienia, z opowieści ojca), z teraźniejszymi) ״tamtego״ odtworzenia lub połączenia razem emocjonalne״ naszymi wewnętrznymi przeżyciami. Owe, we śnie podzielone wskazywało by więc na to jak bardzo trudno, albo wręcz niemożliwe, jest ,״zdjęcie .״wczorajszego z dzisiejszym״ powiązanie Po Piotrkówie oprowadzała nas Justyna, młoda i bardzo miła przewodniczka, urodzona w tym mieście i znająca angielski. Na cmentarzu żydowskim, po tym gdy bezładnie kręciliśmy się między grobami, zaprosiła nas pani Janina, (drobna, starsza, z zaoraną zmarszczkami twarzą kobieta - drugie pokolenie pilnujących ten cmentarz), do jej domu, znajdującego się na terenie cmentarza. W domu pokazała nam ona listy grobów którymi się opiekuje. Opowiedziała nam także z bólem o
66. Tłumaczyła z hebrajskiego Lucyna Bilotinsky, (Jerozolima, sierpień 2015) The Voice || 49 ponieważ zajmuje się cmentarzem ,״wiedzmą״ tym, że sąsiedzi przezywają ją żydowskim. Scisnęły się nam serca! .Pojechaliśmy tam także .״Kara״ Nasz ojciec pracował w fabryce szkła zwaną Oprowadzał nas tam jeden z dawnych polskich pracowników zakładu, pamiętający jeszcze pracujących razem z nimi przymusowo Zydów w czasie wojny. Ojciec uczestniczył w budowie jednego z budynków fabryki, a potem, przez około dwóch lat, taszczył węgiel do ogrzewania pieca dla wytapiania szkła. Kręciliśmy się po dawnych częściach fabryki aż dotarliśmy do tego pieca. W opowieściach ojca miejsce to było zarówno zródłem ciepła dla ogrzania się, jak i dawało możliwość ugotowania czegoś do zjedzenia. Z tych powodów, ojciec uważał to miejsce za Weszliśmy na dach budynku by .״złymi״ - w porównaniu z wieloma innymi ,״dobre״ zobaczyć miasto, szyny kolejowe tuż przy fabryce no i miejsce zamieszkania pracujących w zakładzie Zydów (między nimi naszego ojca), których zgrupowano tam po likwidacji getta w 1943 roku… Około godziny przed wejściem do fabryki, staliśmy przy szlabanie zamykającym mieszkańca ״Książki Swiadectw״ dostęp do szyn kolejowych, czytając fragment miasta, Jakuba Kurca. Kurc przyjechał w odwiedziny z Palestyny do Piotrkówa i .w Zagładę ״wplątany״ został Opisuje on w książce wydarzenie z października 1942 roku, gdy robotnicy żydowscy opuścili pracę i patrzyli z przerażeniem i płaczem ,״Kara״ i także polscy) w fabryce) z daleka (bo Niemcy nie dopuszczali) na swoje zamknięte w wagonach rodziny, w drodze do Treblinki, błagające bezskutecznie o wodę do picia. Akurat w tym momencie, gdy skończyliśmy czytanie, zagwizdał pociąg i przemknął przed naszymi oczyma …, na tych samych szynach..., tuż przy tej samej fabryce, na .״Kara״ :scianie której wisi ten sam ogromny stary napis Stamtąd pojechaliśmy do lasu Raków, gdzie nasza przewodniczka, Justyna, poprowadziła nas do pomnika pamięci zamordowanych w lesie Zydów. Zdziwiła się, że zgodziliśmy się, gdy zaproponowała pójść także do pomnika zabitych Polaków to nie jest״ :i nawet padłych w walce żolnierzy radzieckich, bo… jak stwierdzila wcale zrozumiałe samo przez się, że wy (Zydzi) interesujecie się także cierpieniem ״.innych narodów Gdy wróciliśmy do miasta, weszliśmy do wspaniałej synagogi i obok niej do uczelni nauk biblijnych. W obu tych budynkach mieści się dzisiaj -״bejt midrasz״ biblioteka miejska. Tam, na naszą prośbę, podano nam książkę dla dzieci pod ,poety i pisarza polskiego, pochodzenia żydowskiego ,״Lokomotywa״ tytułem Juliana Tuwima. Wszyscy tam ją znali a myśmy slyszeli o niej od ojca. Mieliśmy poczucie pewnej dumy z wkładu Zydów w polską kulturę. 50 || The Voice Dom naszego ojca w dzielnicy żydowskiej, na ulicy Stara Warszawska 11, jeszcze istnieje. W wewnętrznej stronie podwórka, przy samym jego końcu, stoi dzisiaj - ״Prawdopodobnie w tym miejscu były tam dawniej ubikacje״ .szereg zbiorników tak żeśmy to sobie wyobrazili. Gdy zajrzeliśmy do klatki schodowej, zobaczyliśmy drewniane stare schody, jeszcze do naszego ojca jako - ״wtedy״ chyba od wtedy. Nagle jakbyśmy się zbliżyli do dziecko, jego brata i siostr, wbiegających po tych schodach na górę i zbiegających w dół. Weszliśmy, trzymając się starej drewnianej poręczy, na drugie pietro. Jedno z mieszkań chyba zajmowała wtedy ich rodzina. Nie zapukaliśmy do żadnych drzwi. Nie weszliśmy zobaczyć. Ubodzy Polacy, a może też i Cyganie, o których opowiadał ojciec, mieszkają tam teraz. Nie chcieliśmy ich trwożyć. Obiad z Justyną na placu miejskim - Rynku Trybunalskim, umożliwił nam bliższe zapoznanie się z nią dzieki rozmowie o tym skąd wzięło się jej zainteresowanie światem Piotrkówskich Zydów, który tak nagle został zdruzgotany. Było ciekawie usłyszeć, że piosenka śpiewaka, Idana Rajchela, którą ona usłyszała przypadkowo i się jej spodobała, doprowadziła ją do zainteresonia się Zydami w ogóle, a Piotrkówskimi w szczególności. Przywieźliśmy z sobą jedyne zdjęcie ojca z czasów getta: około dwudziestoletni ojciec maszeruje z jeszcze dwoma kolegami, na tle dużego placu. Wszyscy są ubrani w garnitury. W dolnej części rękawa każdego z nich widać białę opaskę. Przypuszczalnie na niej była gwiazda Dawida, której na zdjęciu nie widać. Patrzymy na plac, ten na zdjęciu i ten który rozpościera się teraz przed naszymi oczyma. Wydaje nam się, że zidentyfikowaliśmy dokładnie miejsce na rynku na tle którego są trzej młodzieńcy sfotografowani. Upewniamy się więc, że jest to napewno ten w ״ukrywa się״ sam plac. Te same domy, tylko z małymi zmianami. Przeszłość teraźniejszości. Jesteśmy w dalszym ciągu na rynku. Siedzimy w kawiarni. Czekamy na spotkanie, które z góry zainspirowaliśmy aby zapoznać się z trzema miejscowymi mieszkańcami Piotrkówa, między nimi nauczycielką angielskiego w jednej z tutejszych szkół. Będzie ona naszą tłumaczką. Rozmowa była ożywiona. Na początku mówiło się głównie o pracy każdego z nich i o innych zajęciach. Aż nagle, niespodziewanie, zmienił się kierunek rozmowy. Stał się wzruszajacy i wstrząsający równocześnie. Jedna z kobiet oświadczyła, że chce coś opowiedzieć. Opowiedziała o... złotym pierścionku, który dostała w dziciństwie od matki…, o tym, że przed wojną jej rodzina (dziadkowie i rodzice), była bardzo uboga…, że zamieszkali w mieszkaniach żydowskich…, że rodzina po wojnie stała się bardzo bogata… i o tym, że gdy trochę The Voice || 51 dorosła i chciała wiedzieć skąd się wziął owy złoty pierścionek, nie otrzymała pierścionek, nosiła ״jej״ odpowiedzi na swoje pytanie. Wtedy zaczęła myśleć, że ten chyba przedtem żydowska dziewczynka. Od tego czasu nie opuszcza ją obawa, że całe to bogactwo rodzinne, włącznie z pierścionkiem, były własnością Zydów. Kobieta opowiadała tę swoją opowieść z bólem i łzami. Było jasne, że czuje ona głęboki wstyd i ogromne poczucie winy. Trzeba było mieć dużą odwagę by opowiedzieć to nam, Zydom, których dopiero czekała przez ״na nas״ przed godziną spotkała po raz pierwszy. Jak gdyby tylko długie lata, by móc rozładować ogromny ciężar winy i ułagodzić sumienie. !powiedziala kobieta. Zdumieliśmy ,״To mój pierwszy raz kiedy spotykam Zydów״ Pomyślec tylko, że w mieście, w którym kiedyś mieszkało około 18 tysiecy Zydów prowadzących intensywne życie żydowskie, aktywnie uczestniczących w ekonomicznym, kulturalnym i politycznym życiu miasta - dzisiejsza jego obywatelka spotyka Zydow poraz pierwszy !? !״Juden-rein״ Wstrząsnęła nami myśl że Piotrków jest dzisiaj rzeczywiście Nie ma wprawdzie Zydów w Piotrkówie, ale Piotrków tkwi głęboko w naszym poczuciu: na nagrobku naszego ojca na cmentarzu w Izraelu, który zmarł w 2010 ״Piotrkówski Zyd״ :roku, wyryliśmy napis po żydowsku
High school students from Piotrków and Nazareth Illit together in Rynek Trybunalski, Nov 2014 52 || The Voice
״..!Boże, zmiłuj się״ Fragment książki Jakuba Kurca (1944)67 ...O wpół do czwartej zaczęła się w fabryce bieganina . Biegli Chrześcijanie i Zydzi. Wszyscy śpieszyli się na stację kolejową znajdującą się tuż przy fabryce. Okazało się że pierwszy pociąg naładowany Zydami stoi i czeka aż przejdzie pociąg osobowy. Wyjść z fabryki nie pozwolono nawet Chrześcijanom, choć niektórym z nich udało się jednak wymknąć. Zabroniono im zbliżyć sie do stojącego pociągu, więc nie widzieli i nie słyszeli nic wiecej poza jednym rozpaczliwym błagalnym słowem: Z niecierpliwością staliśmy czekając aż ruszy ten nieszczęsny .״Wody, Wody״ przeładowany pociąg, minie naszą fabrykę i zniknie nam z oczu. Tym razem widziały moje oczy taki pociąg poraz pierwszy, choć uszy slyszaly już o nim wielokrotnie. Potem widziałem je 8 lub 9 razy i od tego czasu widzę je ciągle w pamięci. Był to pociąg złożony z 51 wagonów: 48 z nich byly ciężarowe, zniszczone częstym użyciem, koloru czerwonego lub szarego. Każdy wagon miał wysoko z dwóch stron drzwi, po małym okienku. Były one zakratowane żelaznymi przegrodami które okrążono drutami kolczastymi. Drzwi były szczelnie zatrzaśnięte. Porządek wagonów był następujący: pierwsza - lokomotywa, za nią 1 wagon osobowy, dalej - 24 wagonów towarowych, potem znów wagon osobowy. Za nim znowu 24 wagonów towarowych, aż wreszcie, ostatni wagon, był znów osobowy. W wagonach osobowych znajdywali się żołnierze ochrony. Pociągi takie były przeznaczone do przewożenia wielu tysięcy Zydów, to znaczy do uśmiercania moich bliskich. W momentach gdy przejezdżały blisko nas, widzieliśmy w małych okienkach przerażone oczy zamkniętych w nich ludzi, jęczących, płaczących Woda! Woda! Woda! Wołania te trwały w naszych uszach״ :i błagających o wodę jeszcze długo po tym gdy pociąg się oddalił. Dopiero wtedy gdy znikał nam on z pola widzenia, wybuchał płacz wszystkich naszych robotników, Zydów i Crześcijan, Boże, zmiłuj się! Własnymi uszami״ :a głównie kobiet. Jedna z kobiet krzyczała Aż do powrotu do ״?!słyszałam placz dzieci. Ktoby słyszał na świecie coś takiego domu nie mogliśmy już pracować. Poprostu zabrakło nam sił! Również Chrześcijanie nie mogli się skupić nad pracą i glośno rozważali zaistniałą sytuację. Dla nich też było .״to straszliwe wydażenie. Nawet dla tych którzy nienawidzili Zydów
67. Jakób Kurtz, komitety szkolne: notatki Żydów z hitlerowskiego piekła zacienionym w Polsce. Tel Awiw: Am Oved, 1944. Strona 320. Przetłumaczone przez Lucyna Bilotinski. The Voice || 53
שבתון 2016 יוצא לדרך ! עוד שבתון מתחיל להתארגן. עוד חוויה אישית משפחתית והיסטורית מיוחדת. נהיה במשך סוף שבוע שלם בפיוטרקוב. נבקר באיזור היהודי, בבית הכנסת, בבית הקברות. תהיה אפשרות לחפש מידע משפחתי ותעודות בארכיונים בפיוטרקוב. נפגוש את ראש העיר ותושבים הגרים בפיוטרקוב היום. כל מי שהשתתף בשבתונים בעבר חזר עם חוויה היסטורית ומרגשת. תאריכים : סוף יוני – תחילת יולי. תאריכים סופיים ישלחו בהמשך. מדריך ומארגן : נתנאל יחיאלי לפרטים והרשמה : 0545638196 [email protected] Shabaton 2016 is Underway! The planning of a new shabaton is currently underway! Our shabatonim are unique personal, family, and historical experiences. We will spend an entire weekend in Piotrków, and visit the Jewish neighborhoods, the synagogue, and the cemetery. Participants will have the opportunity to search for information about their families, and look through documents in the Piotrków archives. We will meet with the mayor of Piotrków as well as current residents. Participants of previous shabtonim reported having an emotional and historical experience. Dates: End of June – Beginning of July. Final dates we will send soon Director and Guide: Netanel Yechieli Information and Registration: 972- 545-638196 [email protected]