The establishment of the home for the elderly and disabled is related to Anna Flatau née Heyman (1838-1898) and her husband Ludwik Flatau (1829-1890) – a well-known grain merchant from Płock and the owner of a banker’s office, who founded the building which was the seat of the institution until 1940.
In 1891, the Płock Jewish community purchased a property located at the former Dobrzyńska Street from Moryc Safian for the sum of 12,875 rubles and 50 kopecks. Part of the amount of 5,000 rubles for this purpose was donated to the commune by Anna Flatau, whose husband, shortly before his death, expressed his will to financially support the project of setting up a home for the elderly and disabled Jews in Płock. Pursuant to the acts of May 1, 1891 and April 19, 1899, the Jewish community was registered as the owner of this property.
The institution was managed by a committee composed of Samuel Askanas, Ludwik Kempner, Izrael Kirsztejn, Izydor Wasserman, Markus Frenkiel Wolfsohn and Henryk Flatau. A group of women from Płock were actively involved in its activities, including Anna Flatau, Matylda Sachs, Maria Woldenberg, Miranda Wolfsohn and Bronisława Golde.
Samuel Askanas was born in 1855 to the family of Józef Chaim (1832-1885) and Rykla née Arfa. His wife was Anna (Chana Etta) née Grinberg. Samuel Askanas dealt with the grain trade, he was a well-known social and religious activist in Płock, as mentioned by Krystyna Grochowska-Iwańska in the article “Two and a half centuries of the Askanas family in Płock”: “Whatever was initiated by the municipal authorities or the Synagogue Supervision, representatives of the Askanas family always joined (also those from the sidelines of the family). Samuel Askanas was especially involved in social and economic matters, participating in the meetings of the Municipality on various topics important for the town and its residents, e.g. when they discussed the creation of a new school in Płock, an additional class, medical care in schools, renovation of the old Jewish cemetery and the purchase of the square for the new cemetery, the establishment of the Savings Bank of Płock in 1891. […] Samuel Askanas was present in the activities of the Volunteer Fire Brigade Society in Płock, he was its honorary member. […] Samuel Askanas, when he was elected a member of the Płock Synagogue Supervision several times, was always one of those who received the largest number of votes, which is confirmed by the reports and materials attached to the protocols. On the recommendation of the Supervision Board, Samuel Askanas was the caretaker of the Home for the Elderly and Disabled in the property No. 102/109 donated by the Flatau family”. Samuel Askanas died on January 28, 1903. 23.
Bronisława Golde née Goldsztejn was born on March 24, 1846. Her husband – Beniamin Byszke (1845-1905) was a famous Płock merchant and philanthropist. Bronisława Golde was an energetic organizer of theatrical performances, concerts and other events aimed at providing financial support to charitable institutions in the town of Płock. On her initiative, at the end of 1892, a cheap kitchen for poor Jews was launched, maintained only at the expense of the Golde family, which served dinners during the winter season. Bronisława Golde was also the main caretaker of a shelter for the elderly and disabled, a member of the Jewish Charity Society, and a co-founder of the “Drop of Milk” Jewish Society for the Care of Mothers and Children in Płock. Bronisława Golde was actively involved in the activities of the University for All and the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural and Craft Jewish Work in the Kingdom of Poland, the Płock-based department of which was established in July 1914. She died on December 27, 1917. She was buried at the local Jewish cemetery.
The main source of funding for the institution was the income from renting flats in one of the houses of the Jewish community at Zduńska Street, as well as monthly voluntary contributions and one-off donations.
In 1899, a merchant from Łódź, Dawid Szmulewicz, donated 50 rubles and made it available to Samuel Askanas: 10 rubles were allocated for a poor Jewish student, and 40 rubles for a new floor and repairs in the home for the elderly and disabled. Dawid Szmulewicz also donated materials for clothes for girls from the Jewish orphanage. In the same year, the co-owner of the iron products factory, Maurycy Binental, donated 20 rubles for charity, including 5 rubles for the home for the elderly and disabled, personally for Bronisława Golde, 5 rubles for the Talmud Torah school and 5 rubles for the shelter for girls. The bookseller from Płock, Lesser Buki (1857-1909), not only supported the community with 100 rubles, but also financed the purchase of outerwear for 12 men and 10 women in the shelter and 26 coats for poor Talmud Torah students. After Anna Flatau’s death, her successors, wishing to honor their mother’s memory, donated 2,000 rubles to the institution as well.
On the initiative of, among others, Samuel Askanas and Bronisława Neumark, organized in Płock were numerous concerts and amateur theater performances, the proceeds of which were donated to charitable institutions of the Jewish community, including the home for the elderly and disabled. On May 20, 1904, the regulations of the institution were approved. According to an activity report for 1905, 16 men and 9 women were kept in the home for the elderly and disabled. The curator of the home for the elderly and disabled in Płock was Henryk Flatau (1872-1943), son of Ludwik and Anna née Heyman, a well-known charity activist and philanthropist in Płock. Henryk Flatau was an engineer and representative of the family company under the name of “Ludwik Flatau”. He left Płock for good in 1907, moving to Warsaw. He was a member of the Nature Appreciation Society and a co-founder of the Warsaw Society of Sport Enthusiasts. He was also a member of the Polish Progressive Union operating in the years 1907-1917 and the Civic Guard of the Capital City of Warsaw in 1915. In 1908, together with Antoni Kowalewski, he became the head of the National Parcel Bank for the Kingdom of Poland, the aim of which was facilitating the transfer of land estates into the hands of individual owners.
The next curator of the shelter was Dr. Józef Majer Kunig (1857-1930) – son of Szyja Lejzer and Ryfka née Majorkiewicz, graduate of the Governorate Middle School in Płock and the Imperial University of Warsaw, long-term director of the Izaak Fogel Jewish hospital. Dr. Kunig was a well-known social activist in Płock: during World War I, he was active in the Committee for Bringing Help to Jews, and in the 1920s – in the Jewish Charity Society. He was also the president of the Hazomir Association, a doctor of the District Health Fund and a doctor of the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Płock.
In 1915, 36 people lived in the shelter for the elderly, in March 1917 – 12 (6 men and 6 women), in June – 13 (6 women and 7 men), in July – 12, in September – again 13 (7 men and 6 women).
During the Bolshevik invasion, the home for the elderly and disabled suffered great losses, the Bolsheviks plundered, among others, the entire supply of clothing and underwear. On May 22, 1922, a concert was held at the Municipal Theater, the profit of which was allocated to the purchase of clothes for the shelter’s residents. In the same year, Mendel Argeband (1862-1933) – a member of the Płock branch of the Association of Feldshers of the Republic of Poland and a town feldsher in the Department of Public Health of the Municipality of Płock, in his testament bequeathed the property at 35 Szeroka Street to the Jewish community in Płock, for the purpose of a shelter for the elderly and disabled. The document also includes provisions, among others, for the Jewish shelter for children and the Talmud Torah.
According to the accounts of the shelter for the financial year 1928/29, from April 1, 1928 to March 31, 1929, the institution’s funding came from the income from its own real estate (2,139 zlotys and 54 grosz), donations from the Jewish community (1,900 zlotys), subsidies from the town council of Płock (7200 zlotys) and other unspecified sources (1337 zlotys and 15 grosz). The average cost of living for one person per day was 1 zloty and 20 grosz.
In October 1929, there were 15 women and 10 men in the shelter for the elderly and the disabled. The head of the institution at that time was the curator in the person of Mojżesz Altberg, the head of the home was Regina Winogron. At that time, the board of the shelter consisted of Jakub Józef Głowiński and Hersz Rubin Silberberg.
Mojżesz Altberg was a well-known social activist, philanthropist and merchant from Płock. He was born on January 11, 1858 in Zamość, as the son of Josef Altberg and Tema née Lewin. In 1885 he married a woman from Płock, Paulina aka Perla née Gold, daughter of Beniamin and Liba Rachela (Bronisława) née Goldsztejn. Mojżesz Altberg was actively involved in the activities of the Talmud Torah: he was one of the members of the school governing committee, and thanks to his zealous work, the institution struggling with permanent deficits received financial support from members of the Płock Jewish community. He was also a member of the committee helping poor Jews to emigrate to Argentina, curator of the home for the elderly and disabled, one of the initiators of the creation of the Jewish Charity Society, and a member of its board. He was also a member of the board of the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural and Craftsmanship of Jews in the Kingdom of Poland. In the interwar period, he was, among others, the guardian of the daytime care for Jewish children. He was also involved in the activities of the Płock department of the “ORT” Society for the Promotion of Professional and Agricultural Work among Jews.
