Feliks Tuszyński
Feliks Tuszyński – a painter and miniaturist, he was the son of Icek and Sura née Bajbok. He was born on July 19, 1921 in Płock. During the Nazi occupation he was in the ghetto in Łódź, then in the camp in Auschwitz. In 1944 […]
Recent Posts
The Sadzawka family
The oldest mention of the Sadzawka family in Płock dates back to 1810 – on June 22, in the Płock Notarial Office, a purchase contract was concluded for the sale of part of the property located at Synagogalna Street (mortgage number 39) between Józef Markus […]
Jehuda Lejb Margolies
Jehuda Lejb Margolies (1787-1811) – son of Asher Zelig, was a rabbi who at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries managed the spiritual life of the Jewish community in Płock. Before 1793 he was a rabbi in Szczebrzeszyn, Włocławek and Bodzanów. He was associated with Płock in the period from 1798 to 1805. He was considered an enlightened opponent of the Hasidim, he was interested in the Enlightenment movement, which was promoted by Mojżesz Mendelsohn. He became famous as the author of two works: “Or Olam” and “Pri-Twuah”, which stood out from the rabbinical literature of the time with a bold approach to the issue of faith and knowledge. As I. Schipper writes in the book “Seven hundred years of the Jewish community in Płock”, in “Or Olam” Margolies aimed to encourage Jews to study natural sciences. A task that needed considerable courage at the time, given the hostile attitude of the rabbis to anything that entered the field of secular science. Margolies’s work included arguments about chemistry, anatomy and physiology, as well as his remarks and considerations in connection with the discovery of America, which he considered a breakthrough in the history of the development of natural sciences. His work made a huge impression, as evidenced by the fact that in 1777-1783 it had three editions. Margolies also stigmatized the rule of the kahal nobles, who favored the Polish magnates and at the same time oppressed the Jewish poor. He was concerned with the spread of Hasidism in Poland. He represented the Płock kehilla during the Jewish kehilla conventions – he presented various proposals concerning the rights of Jews regarding kosher tax or military service. In the years 1805-1811 he was the rabbi of Frankfurt (Oder). He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Słubice.
Bibliography:
Shipper I., Siedemset lat gminy żydowskiej w Płocku, Lviv 1938
Maurycy Markusfeld
Maurycy Markusfeld (1849-1900) – sworn lawyer in Płock in 1889-1900. He was the son of a respected doctor of medicine and the first doctor of the St. Valentine hospital in Kutno in the years 1844-1850, Samuel Stanisław Markusfeld (1810-1880) and Emilia née Lewensztajn. Maurycy Markusfeld […]
The Bieżuński family
Beniamin Koryto (born 1802, Sochaczew) and Tyla nee Sierota (born 1804, Służewo) were the first of the Koryto family to settle down in Płock (more about the Koryto family – link). Israel (born 1847), one of their sons, married Gitla Tauba nee Szmiga (born 1854). […]
Maksymilian Eljowicz
Maksymilian Eljowicz (1890-1942) – painter, born in Raciąż as the son of the craftsman Chaim Pinkas. At the beginning of the 20th century, his family moved to Płock. Here Maximilian started studying, then working in a watchmaker’s workshop. Since an early age he showed outstanding capabilities for painting and drawing, he began studying at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw, under the direction of Stanisław Lenc. He continued his artistic education in Paris and Munich. He exhibited his works in Warsaw and Płock, including the Płock Art Exhibition in the Artistic Club of Płock in 1932. He painted portraits, landscapes, nudes and still lifes. Color played an important role in his painting. He was a lecturer at the Drawing and Painting Courses in Warsaw, which operated at the Jewish Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts. He also dealt with interior decoration and shop windows. His friends were Icchok Lejb Perec and Noach Dawidsohn. During the occupation, Maksymilian Eljowicz was in the Warsaw Ghetto. He was murdered in Treblinka with his wife Stefania née Frendler (born in 1898) and son. His works remain in the collections of the Scientific Society of Płock, the Diocesan Museum in Płock and the Emmanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.
Bibliography:
Askanas K., Sztuka Płocka, Płock 1991
Mórawski K., Kartki z dziejów Żydów warszawskich, Warszawa 1993
Przedpełski J., Stefański J., Żydzi płoccy w dziejach miasta, Płock 2012
Roman Pakuła
Dr Roman (Rywen) Pakuła was the son of Mojżesz Aron and Enta, his family lived at 4 Grodzka Street in Płock. Below we publish two texts devoted to this extraordinary citizen of Płock and a valued scientist. Doctor Roman Pakuła – a biographical sketch prepared […]
Jakub Zysman
Jakub Zysman (1861-1926) – a doctor and social worker, called “doctor Judym from Klimontów” (a reference to the character from the novel “Homeless People” by Stefan Żeromski), was born in Zakroczym as the son of Hersz Ber Zysman and Łaja nee Przysucher. In the 1870s, […]
Guterman and Alterowicz family
Symcha Guterman (Symcha’s biogram can be found here – link) was born on September 1, 1903 in Warsaw, as the son of the talmudist Menachem Mendel (born ca. 1870) and Bajla Gitla née Fiszman (born ca. 1872). His mother came from a wealthy family from Kozienice on the Zagożdżonka river, where her father – Berek Fiszman (born in 1831) owned a mill. The Gutermans had many children (apart from Symcha, the children of Menachem Mendel and Bajla Gitla were: Jankiel, Szlomo, Idka, Chaja, Mindla and Sara), and was definitely a loving, warm and solidary family full of love and devotion. During World War I they moved to Płock, where Menachem Mendel’s brother – Rachmil (born 1875), who professionally dealt with basket production, lived (his company was registered at Szeroka Street at number 57). Symcha Guterman, after serving in the infantry of the Polish Army, founded a knitting workshop in Płock, in which his mother and sisters also worked. In 1930 he was one of the co-founders of the Płock department of the Frajhajt organization. As a member of its board, he became a well-known activist in the field of cultural and educational activities.
In 1933, Symcha married Ewa Alterowicz from Płock (born in 1908), daughter of Jakub (1844–1919) and Necha née Tyszman (born in 1858). The family of Ewa’s mother came from Płońsk. Necha’s father was a tailor Nucha Tyszman (born ca. 1834), her mother – Frajdla née Szostak (born ca. 1832). Necha married Jakub from the village of Młotkowo in 1885. The young married couple lived in Płock at Jerozolimska Street, and in 1886 their first son Pinkus was born. Necha and Jakub were also the parents of Icek Szlama (born in 1892), Mojżesz (born in 1895), Eliasz (born in 1898), Sura (1889–1905) and Czarna (born in 1896). During the interwar period, Icek Szlama Alterowicz worked in Płock as a printer, Eliasz Alterowicz – as a tailor (he lived with his wife Tyszla and daughters Chana and Fradel at 59 Kwiatka Street), Icek Szlama Alterowicz, married Gitla née Cynamon (their children were Abram Hersz and Barbara Miriam), he was a typesetter by profession. In 1927, Czarna Alterowicz married the tailor Josek Jesion from Gostynin.
Ewa Guterman was a tailor by profession. Together with Symcha and his son Jakub, born in 1935, they lived in a one-story house at the end of Sienkiewicza Street, near the seminary. Opposite lived the relatives of Ewa: Szajna Fuks née Alterowicz from Kosemin (born in 1858) with her daughter Małka (born in 1889) and her children from the first marriage with Dawid Józef Chuczer – Chana Łaja (Lodka) (born in 1920) and Icek (born 1914) as well as children from her second marriage – Jakub Grosman (born 1928) and Sara Grosman (born 1930).
Symcha Guterman fell in the Warsaw Uprising on August 1, 1944. He left a valuable diary in which he wrote down the occupation history of the Jews of Płock. Ewa Guterman, who after the war married Szlomo Chaim Grzebień, in the years 1945–1949 was a member of the board of the Jewish Committee in Płock. In 1950, she emigrated to Israel with her husband and son. Jakub Guterman – a painter and illustrator who is a member of the Haogen kibbutz, maintains constant contact with Poland and often visits his hometown, being very fond of it. Lodka Chuczer, who was “the second mother” for Jakub Guterman, also survived World War II. In 1950, she emigrated to the United States with her husband Felek.
Photos from the private collection of Jakub Guterman:
Zofia Pakuła
Zofia Pakuła née Graubart was the daughter of Abram Nusen aka Natan (born in 1886) and Chaja (born in 1891). She had an older sister Jadwiga (born in 1918). The Graubard family lived at 8 Sienkiewicza St. Natan Graubard was a grain merchant, owner of […]
