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ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS Zbigniew Gruszka

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ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS Zbigniew Gruszka ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS FOLIA LIBRORUM 16, 2010 Zbigniew Gruszka HERMAN KRUK (1897-1944) JAKO ORGANIZATOR I DYREKTOR BIBLIOTEKI GETTA WILE ŃSKIEGO. SZKIC DO OBRAZU BIBLIOTEKARSTWA śYDOWSKIEGO W POLSCE W wydanym w 2000 r. Słowniku pracowników ksi ąŜ ki polskiej . Suplemencie II , znalazł si ę krótki biogram Hermana Kruka, pióra wilnianina, profesora Janu- sza Dunina. Autor podał w nim kilka danych z Ŝycia H. Kruka i opisał jego losy w czasie II wojny światowej. Te szcz ątkowe informacje biograficzne uzasadnia- ją ponowne podj ęcie próby zebrania najwa Ŝniejszych wiadomo ści o Kruku i ukazanie jego sylwetki na tle polskiego bibliotekarstwa tym bardziej, i Ŝ poja- wiło si ę ostatnio sporo publikacji po świ ęconych gettu i osobie Kruka, głównie anglojęzycznych, oraz wydaje si ę, Ŝe jego posta ć nie jest powszechnie znana 1. Herman (Herszl) Kruk ps. Kapral urodził si ę w Płocku, w dniu 19 maja 1897 r. Na temat jego młodo ści i rodziny dysponujemy sk ąpymi materiałami. Ojciec Kruka pracował w fabryce octu i zmarł w ostatnim roku I wojny światowej. Z sze ściorga rodze ństwa trójka zmarła w dzieci ństwie. Herman miał o trzy lata młodsz ą siostr ę (nieznan ą z imienia) i o pi ęć lat młodszego brata (Pinkesa). Koniec wojny zastał Kruka na stanowisku kierowniczym w zakładzie przetwór- czym dostarczaj ącym owoce i warzywa do Niemiec 2. Na 1915 r. naleŜy datowa ć pocz ątek zainteresowania si ę Kruka polityk ą. W tym Ŝe roku zapisał si ę do kółka Socjaldemokracji Królestwa Polskiego i Litwy, przekształconej w 1918 w Komunistyczn ą Parti ę Polski 3. Nale Ŝał do kół 1 Mimo doniosłej roli, jak ą odegrał Herman Kruk w Ŝyciu kulturalnym getta wile ń- skiego oraz w organizacji bibliotek Ŝydowskich, jego hasło nie znalazło si ę w wa Ŝniej- szych słownikach biograficznych po świ ęconych śydom. Por.: G. Wigoder, Słownik biograficzny śydów , Warszawa 1998; The Yivo Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Eu- rope. Ed. in chief Gershon David Hundert, New Haven and London 2008. 2 H. Kruk, The Last Days of Jerusalem of Lithuania: chronicles from The Vilna Ghetto ; ed. and introduced by Benjamin Harshav, transl. by Barbara Harshav. New Haven, London 2002, s. XLI; S. Bergman , Herman Kruk [hasło], w: Słownik biogra- ficzny działaczy polskiego ruchu robotniczego , t. 3, Warszawa 1992, s. 462. 3 S. Bergman, tam Ŝe. [171] 172 Zbigniew Gruszka syjonistycznych, gdzie miał dost ęp do utworzonej w 1905 lub 1906 r. Ŝydow- skiej biblioteki publicznej Ha-Zamir w Płocku, gromadz ącej publikacje rozwija- jące wiedz ę ogóln ą biedniejszych członków mniejszo ści Ŝydowskiej 4. Ambitna lektura i zainteresowania kwestiami politycznymi pchn ęły Kruka w stron ę po- gl ądów lewicowych i komunistów, które potem poddawał krytyce. W 1920 r. Kruk wst ąpił do polskiej armii walcz ącej z bolszewikami, zerwał z ruchem komunistycznym i jednocze śnie zapisał si ę do Bundu (Powszechnego śydowskiego Zwi ązku Robotniczego na Litwie, w Polsce i Rosji), a wkrótce do Cukunftu, w którym był sekretarzem 5. Tam Ŝe propagował działalno ść biblio- teczn ą, organizuj ąc biblioteki w ędrowne, przenoszone z jednej organizacji do drugiej co kilka tygodni lub miesi ęcy 6. Od 1930 r. Kruk był dyrektorem war- szawskiej Biblioteki im. Bronisława Grossera, publicysty i działacza politycz- nego 7. Po wybuchu II wojny światowej Kruk uciekł do Wilna; miał nadziej ę na powrót do Warszawy po zostawion ą tam Ŝon ę Paul ę. W Wilnie, za zgod ą Rady śydów, przyst ąpił do organizacji biblioteki. Sam obj ął stanowisko kierownicze po zamordowanym wcze śniejszym dyrektorze biblioteki Krasnerze 8. BIBLIOTEKI I BIBLIOTEKARZE W LATACH 1918-1939 Okres dwudziestolecia mi ędzywojennego był w Polsce czasem wzmo Ŝonych wysiłków zmierzaj ących do ekonomicznego i kulturalnego d źwigni ęcia kraju po 123 latach niewoli narodowej; etapem kształtowania si ę pa ństwowo ści, czasem dąŜ eń do zachowania niepodległo ści, wci ąŜ jeszcze politycznie niepewnej. Kry- 4 Plotzk: a History of an Ancient Jewish Community in Poland , ed. Eliyahu Eisen- berg [= Plotsk: toldot kehilah ‘atikat -yomin be-Polin]. Tel-Aviv 1967, s. 48 [tłum. an- gielskie dost ępne online: http://www. zchor.org/ plock/sefer2a.htm#hazamir; zdygitali- zowany oryginał: http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=2527]. 5 H. Kruk, The Last Days of Jerusalem of Lithuania… , s. XLI; D. Shavit, Jewish li- braries in the Polish ghettos during the Nazi era . „The Library Quarterly”, 1982 vol. 52 no. 2, s. 117. 6 D. Shavit, tamŜe. 7 Bronisław Grosser (pseud. Sławek, S. Zelcer; 1883-1912) – wszechstronnie wy- kształcony, porywaj ący mówca, literat, Ŝydowski działacz i publicysta socjalistyczny. Urodził si ę w Miechowie; był aktywnym członkiem Bundu, a od 1912 r. jego przedsta- wicielem. Propagator polsko ści i zwolennik zgodnego współ Ŝycia Polaków i śydów. Jego imieniem nazwano wiele szkół, bibliotek, klubów robotniczych. Zmarł przedwcze- śnie na tyfus. Źródło: B. Mark, Grosser Bronisław , w: Polski słownik biograficzny , t. 9, Wrocław 1960, s. 6. 8 D. Abramowicz, The Library in the Vilna Ghetto, w: The Holocaust and the book: destruction and preservation , ed. by Jonathan Rose, Amherst 2001, s. 166. Herman Kruk (1897-1944) jako organizator… 173 stalizowanie si ę odr ębno ści na mapie Europy nie było procesem szybkim. Wa Ŝ- ne były: okre ślenie granic i uruchomienie inicjatyw ustawodawczych z opraco- waniem konstytucji wł ącznie, a tak Ŝe wojna polsko-rosyjska 1920 r. o kształt wschodnich rubie Ŝy Rzeczpospolitej, reforma monetarna Władysława Grab- skiego z 1923 r., czy przewrót majowy w 1926 r. Zawód bibliotekarski ostatecznie ukształtował si ę w Polsce w latach 20. XX w. Świadczyło o tym rosn ące poczucie wi ęzi zawodowej bibliotekarzy z innymi pracownikami bibliotek 9. Stanisław Rymar, w referacie „Ustawa o bibliotekach gminnych”, wygłoszonym podczas II Zjazdu Bibliotekarzy Pol- skich w Poznaniu i opublikowanym na łamach „Przegl ądu Bibliotecznego”, obliczył, Ŝe w 1928 r. w Polsce było blisko 40 tys. bibliotek ró Ŝnego typu, które posiadały około 16,5 mln ksi ąŜ ek. Samych bibliotek naukowych (pa ństwowych, samorz ądowych, towarzystw naukowych, duchownych i prywatnych) było 451 10 . Tak szybki rozwój tych instytucji przyczynił si ę do ustabilizowania za- wodu bibliotekarza w wolnej Polsce. Najwa Ŝniejszymi bibliotekami w kraju w dwudziestoleciu międzywojennym były: powołana w 1928 r. w Warszawie Biblioteka Narodowa oraz wile ńska Biblioteka Pa ństwowa im. Wróblewskich. Obok nich istniały biblioteki szkół wy Ŝszych, np. Biblioteka Politechniki Lwowskiej, Politechniki Warszawskiej, Biblioteka Szkoły Głównej Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego, Wy Ŝszej Szkoły Han- dlowej (obie w Warszawie), lwowska Biblioteka Akademii Medycyny Wetery- naryjnej itp. W 1918 r. tylko trzy uniwersytety dysponowały własnymi ksi ąŜ ni- cami; były to: Uniwersytet Warszawski, Lwowski i Jagiello ński 11 . Jak ju Ŝ wspomniano, w Wilnie działała Biblioteka Pa ństwowa im. Wróblew- skich. Była to instytucja wa Ŝna dla lokalnej społeczno ści, o której randze świadczy pełna autonomia oraz podleganie bezpo średnio Ministerstwu Wyzna ń Religijnych i O świecenia Publicznego. Na pocz ątku lat 20. XX wieku ksi ąŜ nica zgromadziła ponad 80 tys. wol.; zasób ten tworzyły publikacje wydane na ob- szarze województw północno-wschodnich II Rzeczpospolitej. W praktyce, wskutek słabo rozwini ętej sieci bibliotek naukowych w regionie, Biblioteka im. Wróblewskich odgrywała znacz ącą rol ę. W 1919 r. ostatecznie ustalony został charakter Wile ńskiej Biblioteki Publicznej, któr ą w tym Ŝe czasie przekształcono w Bibliotek ę Uniwersytetu Stefana Batorego 12 . 9 J. Włodarczyk, Kształtowanie si ę zawodu bibliotekarskiego na ziemiach polskich w okresie zaborów , Łód ź 1990, s. 13. 10 S. Rymar, Ustawa o bibliotekach gminnych (referat) , „Przegl ąd Biblioteczny” 1929 z. 3, s. 332. 11 Z. Gaca-Dąbrowska, Bibliotekarstwo II Rzeczpospolitej: zarys problemów organi- zacyjnych i badawczych , Warszawa 2007, s. 29-30. 12 TamŜe, s. 28-30. 174 Zbigniew Gruszka W latach 1918-1939 w Polsce funkcjonowało 748 bibliotek Ŝydowskich, na których ksi ęgozbiory składały si ę głównie ksi ąŜ ki w j ęzyku jidysz i hebrajskim. Na dzie ń 1 stycznia 1930 r. posiadały one prawie 861 tysi ęcy wol. ksi ąŜek 13 . Liczb ę t ę mo Ŝna uzna ć za niewystarczaj ącą, poniewa Ŝ w tamtym czasie miesz- kało w Polsce, według ró Ŝnych źródeł, od 3,1 do 3,3 mln śydów 14 . Na jedn ą osob ę przypadało wi ęc około 0,26 woluminu. Szerzej funkcjonowanie publicz- nych bibliotek Ŝydowskich przedstawił w 1934 r. Herman Kruk na łamach „Przegl ądu Bibliotecznego” 15 . Największ ą moj Ŝeszow ą ksi ąŜ nic ą była znajduj ąca si ę w Warszawie Biblio- teka im. Bronisława Grossera, z któr ą w 1930 r. Herman Kruk zwi ązał si ę za- wodowo i w tym Ŝe roku został jej dyrektorem. Mie ściła si ę ona przy ul. Leszno 13 16 i była bibliotek ą publiczn ą, otwartą ka Ŝdego dnia w tygodniu po 12 godzin, prowadzon ą przez Stowarzyszenie „Kultur-Liga”. Zatrudniała 22 pracowników, z czego 11 otrzymywało wynagrodzenie, za ś 11 pracowało nieodpłatnie jako studenci lub wolontariusze. W skład biblioteki wchodziły: czytelnia z bieŜą cą pras ą oraz pokój pracy naukowej. Nowe publikacje nabywano ze składek u Ŝyt- kowników. Były to wydawnictwa w j ęzyku hebrajskim i jidysz oraz zbiór ró Ŝ- noj ęzycznych czasopism. W 1936 r. w zbiorach ksi ąŜ nicy znajdowało si ę około 30-40 tys. wol.; obsługiwała wówczas 4580 czytelników 17 . W przededniu wybuchu II wojny światowej w Wilnie funkcjonowało kilka bibliotek Ŝydowskich. Pierwsz ą z nich była Biblioteka Mefitse Haskalah, pro- wadzona przez Towarzystwo Szerzenia O światy, z 45 tys. wol., w tym 10 tys. ksi ąŜek w j ęzyku jidysz, 5,5 tys. po hebrajsku, 10 tys. w j ęzyku polskim, 18 tys. w j ęzyku rosyjskim, po 500 w j ęzykach: litewskim, angielskim i francuskim. Ze zbiorów korzystało około 200 czytelników. Nieco mniejszym ksi ęgozbiorem dysponowała Biblioteka Matitiahu Stra- szuna (1819-1885), uczonego, bibliofila, wła ściciela ksi ęgozbioru.
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