Symcha Guterman was born in Warsaw in 1903 as the third child of Mendel, a Talmudist scholar from Radzymin, and Bajla Gitla nee Fiszman, who came from the village of Kozienice near Radom. Her father was the owner of a mill. During World War I, […]
On March 19, 1860, in Płock, the marriage was concluded between Sura Łaja Koryto (born 1840), the daughter of Beniamin from Sochaczew (1802-1877) and Tyla nee Sierota (1804-1874), and Josek Chaim Fuks (1836-1891), the son of residents of the town of Kutno – Lejb and […]
The Zylber family came from the village of Turza Wielka (Płock poviat, Brudzeń Duży commune). Probably the lack of perspectives prompted the father of the family – Chaim Zylber (born 1871), who worked in the village as a worker, to move in the early 20s of the 20th century to Płock, 25 kilometers away. Here, Chaim Zylber quickly became the owner of a cotton store located at 13 Tumska Street, in a tenement house belonging to Moryc Margulies.
Together with his wife Miriam née Strykowska (born 1872), there had eight children – four sons: Moniek, Natan (Nusen), Szymon and Leon (died in 1935) and daughters: Zosia, Chana (both died at an early age when the family still lived in Turza Wielka), Pessa Jochewet (Pola) and Hela (died in 1938). The Zylber family lived initially at Szeroka Street (currently Józef Kwiatka Street), then in a tenement house at 9 Grodzka Street. Natan, Szymon and Leon Zylber served in the Polish Army.
Pola Zylber (born 1904) married the citizen of Mława – Abraham Nisson, who was a shoemaker by profession. Their daughters – Zosia and Mania – were born in Mława. After two years Pola with her daughters moved to Płock. Zosia and Mania attended the Public General School No. 8, whose manager was Masza (Maria) Bromberger (her biography is available here).
In 1939, the family escaped from Płock from the approaching Germans. Only Miriam Zylber remained in Płock, her son Natan joined her some time later. They both went to the ghetto in Warsaw and were murdered in Treblinka.
Pola with her daughters and Abram Nisson survived the period of World War II in the East. In 1942, Zosia and Mania’s sister – Chana was born in Uzbekistan.
After the war, the Zylber family returned to Płock. Here Zosia Nisson for some time attended the Regina Żółkiewska State Junior High School. In 1948 she left for Israel. Her parents emigrated from Poland in the early 1950s.
Photos courtesy of Hedva Segal and Chana Merenstein. Thank you!
The Zylber – Nisson family before the Holocaust
The Zylber – Nisson family after the Holocaust
The Jewish community of Płock after the Holocaust
The owner of the building in the historicizing style from 1873 was a grain and wool trader Markus Frenkiel Wolffsohn (1830-1910), later his son Izydor (Icek) inherited it. The next owner was the merchant Moszek Firstenberg (born 1852), son of Izrael and Fajga née Szlam, […]
Roza Holcman (born in 1910), daughter of Lejb (1886-1930) and Liza Lea nee Rozenberg (1888-1975), was the first female lawyer in Płock. In 1934, she graduated from the University of Warsaw. She was trained as a legal practitioner by Kazimierz Mayzner (1883-1951) – a well-known […]
Synagogalna Street is one of the streets forming the former Jewish district in Płock. Its name comes from the now-defunct building of the main synagogue located on the square between Synagogalna and Tylna Streets, marked with mortgage number 32 (you can read more about the synagogue here: https://jewishplock.eu/en/the-great-synagogue/). The synagogue was a place of prayer and religious gatherings, there were also ceremonial services on the occasion of the name-day of Ignacy Mościcki, anniversary of the January Uprising or resistance against the invasion of the Bolsheviks. During the occupation, the synagogue was used by the Germans for a car workshop and a bus garage. It was demolished in 1951. At Synagogalna Street before the war, a higher religious school (bet hamidrasz) was located. The building for the synagogue and school was erected by Markus Kazriel Dancygier, who bought the property in 1832. In 1834, he handed the building over to the Jewish commune. In addition to the building, he donated 258 books, including 81 pieces of the Babylonian Talmud, works of Mojżesz Maimonides, Adam Chochmas and two scrolls for the school library. In 1865, at the Synagogalna St. in the home of Dawid Łaski, the Jewish elementary school was opened, headed by Hersz Szejman, and then by Abraham Jakub Papierna. At the end of the 19th century, there were also cheders located at Synagogalna, owned by Matys Gutmacher, Izrael Wolf Kon, Markus Ryża and Szyja Konczewski. Inhabitants of the street traded footwear (Ides Fuks, Lewin Lichtensztajn, Dawid Pokrzywa, Szlama Taub), haberdashery (Szmul Grünbaum), fabrics (Icek Koralczyk, Jojne Horowitz), tobacco products (Szymon Luszyński, Abram Majzner), leather (Mosiek Globus, Józef Szpiro) and flour (Wolf Piechotka). There were two fashion traders on the street – Jakub Kowadło and Chananie Zylberman. According to data from 1926, Jakub Cymbler’s company (colonial goods shop – Synagogalna 6), Izaak Gewircman’s (sale of butter, eggs and fruit – Synagogalna 26), Symcha Kanarek’s (bakery – Synagogalna 22) and Mojżesz Lisser’s (bakery – Synagogalna 16) were all registered there. At the outbreak of World War II, 446 people lived at Synagogalna Street. The street named Niecała was an extension of Synagogalna. In the place of the former buildings of Niecała, today the Square of the Executed 13 is located as well as a monument in honor of Poles, who on September 18, 1942 were hanged by the Nazis.
Adam Neuman-Nowicki was born on September 23, 1925 in Płock, as the son of Mosze Szlomo Neuman (1893-1942, son of Jehuda Lejb and Leja nee Niedźwiedz) and Frymeta nee Goldkind (1894-1942, daughter of Abram and Tema). His family was part of the active, assimilated group […]
The defensive tower at 13a Zduńska Street is one of the remains of the medieval fortifications of the city. In the 18th century it was rebuilt into a residential house. The property has changed owners many times over the course of the 19th century. In […]
We would like to invite you to visit the exhibition “The Jewish Count. The story of Stanisław Posner”, prepared as part of the Nobiscum Foundation’s activities, which will be presented from June 13 at the Communal Cultural Center in Sochocin. The exhibition was launched last year in the Department No. 7 of the Płock Library, in connection with the 150th birth anniversary of this eminent lawyer, sociologist and journalist, at the same time commemorating the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence, and in January 2019 it was accompanying a charitable 5th Run of the January Uprising in Kuchary Żydowskie.
More about the exhibition: https://fundacjanobiscum.eu/zydowski-hrabia-w-sochocinie-zapraszamy-na-wystawe-o-stanislawie-posnerze/
In connection with the presentation of the exhibition in the Communal Cultural Center in Sochocin, we had the opportunity to visit not only the town itself, but also the Jewish cemetery in Sochocin and the city of Płońsk, including the building where David Ben Gurion lived, with a commemorative plaque dedicated to the first prime minister of Israel, the place where the synagogue used to be located, and the David Ben Gurion Square. We would like to thank Piotr Sokołowski of Kuchary Żydowskie for his time and inspiring walk in the footsteps of Jews in the Northern Mazovia region. Below, you’ll find some photographs documenting our trip.
In the beginning of the 1930s, the Holcman family lived at 4 Kolegialna Street in the house of Rafał Płońskier. Moszek Holcman (born 1890), son of Josek and Fajga née Zelkman, came from Czerwińsk. He was a trader by profession. His wife was Marjem née […]
