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 (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, […]
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:
Icek Nierób was born on January 1, 1925 in Płock, as the son of Abraham and Ryfka (Regina) née Pencherek. Abraham and Ryfka were also the parents of Bela (born 1918), Miriam (born 1920), Leon (born 1922), Terca (twin sister of Icek, who died in […]
April 19, 2020 marks the 77th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In connection with the anniversary, we present two people from the Płock region, whose activities were related to the Warsaw ghetto. Bronek (Boruch) Szpigel from Wyszogród (1919–2013, pictured on the […]
Dawid (Devi) Tuszyński – a painter and master of miniatures, was born in Brzeziny on September 17, 1914 (according to the entries in the registry books for the town of Brzeziny), as a son of Icek Tuszyński (born in 1879) and Sura nee Bajbok (born in Płock in 1890). Shortly after his birth, the Tuszyński family moved to Dawid’s mother’s hometown, where he lived in a tenement house at 6 Jerozolimska Street.
Dawid presented artistic skills from an early age, his works were printed in ”Płomyk” and ”Płomyczek”. Dawid’s first teacher of drawing was the well-known painter from Płock, Erna Gutkind. Before 1939, he studied painting with Abraham Skórnik in Płock and Tadeusz Dobrowolski in Łódź. After the outbreak of World War II, he was mobilized and took part in the battles near Kutno, Łowicz and in the defense of Warsaw. Then he found himself in Siberia. After the war, he went to Paris, where he continued his artistic education. In 1947 he took up studies at the Grande Chaumiere Academy. He created magnificent miniatures that earned him recognition in the artistic world, he also made portraits to order, among others of Charlie Chaplin and Helena Rubinstein. His works were presented, among others in France, Monaco, Belgium, Spain, Israel and the Netherlands. One of his most famous works is the great series of miniatures for the Book of David Psalms – Devi Tuszyński worked on the series for over 20 years. He devoted a series of black and white miniatures entitled “Płock” to the town, where he spent his childhood and youth.
His works are in the collections of the British Museum and the Alexander Pushkin Museum in Moscow, among others. He was awarded the title of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. In 1999, the Płock City Council honored him with the Medal of Merit for Płock. He died on December 15, 2002 in Paris.
Bibliography:
Askanas K., Sztuka Płocka, Płock 1991
Przedpełski J., Stefański J., Żydzi płoccy w dziejach miasta, Płock 2012
Below you’ll find the trailer of the film “Devi, prince of miniature” directed by Mariusz Orski (Polish only):
DEVI_KSIAZE_MINIATURY_2018_Trailer from Tomasz Malinowski colorist on Vimeo.
Under the contract concluded on June 1, 1824 with the Municipal Office of the Town of Płock, the merchant Jakub Lewin Szenwic (born in 1789) received a perpetual lease of the square located at Nowa Street at that time (property 258 E) for an annual […]
Kazimierz Mayzner was born on July 6, 1883 in Warsaw, as the son of Izydor and Anna née Woldenberg. His father was considered a humanist and a patriot, he was an outstanding industrialist, co-owner of a trade company, co-founder of the Mayzner Society of Sugar […]
Our branch of the Szeraszew family comes from Radziłów and thanks to the documents stored in the Łomża department of the State Archives in Białystok it is known, that there were many members of the Szeraszew family in Radziłów and the local area.
Joszka Szeraszew is the first known to us from the civil registry records, and therefore he can be considered the progenitor of the family, although it is also known that his father was Lejzor (probably born ca. 1750), and the father of Lejzor was Herszek (probably born ca. 1730).
Joszka Szeraszew (or Szeraśew) was born in Radziłów in 1777 and was a tavern keeper. He had two wives, Girenda (1778–1827), mother of his four sons: Mordechaj, Lejzor, Szemel and Jankiel, and Maryaszka Klimaszewska, mother of three more children: Abram, Moszek and Leia. When he married Maryaszka, Joszka was a widower 30 years older than her, and she was a maid from Radziłów. Joszka personally signed the documents in Polish, which was not so common among his contemporaries.
His son Szemel (Chemel) was a salter, probably a salt trader (born in 1795). He was married to Ryfka Leybowiczówna, with whom had four children: Mendel and Gerszon (who both died in their childhood) as well as Lejb (born in 1833; my great-grandfather) and Girenda (born in 1837).
Lejb Szemelowicz Szeraszew (1833–1908), born in Radziłów, married Liba Gerszonsztejn (1832–1908), who according to the books of permanent residents of the town of Płock came from Augustów. They had three sons: Abram Chaim (born in 1860; my great grandfather), Jakub Gerszon (Hersz) (born in 1856) and Szlama Joszka (born in 1864) – all were born in Radziłów. In the 1860s or at the beginning of the 1870s, Lejb Szeraszew and his family moved from Radziłów to Płock. There (or in Łódź) in 1868 their daughter Sara Chaja (Helena) was born, and in 1875 in Płock – Ruchla Łaja (she died in 1902 as a childless maiden).
Lejb Szeraszew and his family probably went to Płock in search of a better life. Has it really turned out better? They lived at 5 Mostowa Street, and Lejb found employment as a “bridge warehouse keeper”. At that time, a pontoon bridge operated on the Vistula River, which used to be dismantled for the winter, and perhaps Lejb Szeraszew was taking care of this bridge. Watchmaking became a family occupation in the next generation. The first watchmakers were Jakub Gerszon, who had a workshop in a tenement house at 12 Kolegialna St., as well as is brother Abram, who moved to Łódź in the 1890s, and at 11 Andrzeja Street he established a so-called agency – he sold parts for Swiss watches and watchmaking tools. Their sister Sara Chaja (Helena) ca. 1890 married the watchmaker from Płock, Abraham Hassyd (born in 1868). Five of their children were born here: Dawid (born in 1891), Abraham Mojżesz (born in 1892), Jakub (born in 1895), Chawa (born in 1896) and Ernestyna (born in 1899). Around 1900, the family emigrated to Switzerland, where they adopted the surname Gassyt and europeanized their first names accordingly. Their last daughter, Luisa (1903–1990) was born in Zurich. Luisa was not married, she was a doctor by profession. Abraham Hassyd (Gassyt) had a watchmaker’s shop in his house at Winterthurerstrasse in Zurich. It was he who helped my great-grandfather Abram set up the agency in Łódź and he probably delivered him the goods. Abram Szeraszew after moving to Łódź (or earlier) changed his surname to Szereszewski and his first name to Adolf. He died in 1925. His wife, Helena née Frommer, came from Kraków (born in 1867; daughter of Joachim and Fanny). She died in the Łódź ghetto in 1941 and is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Łódź. They had two daughters: Stanisława (1896–1977) and Roma (1897–1970) and son, Jankiel (Jan) (born in 1899), who died several months after birth. Roma (my grandmother) was a sculptor, one of the first year students admitted to studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, a student of Konstanty Laszczka.
Szlama Joszko, who was a merchant, lived in Płock. He had a wife Chasza née Gombińska and a daughter Ruchla (born in 1891). Jakub Gerszon, the oldest of the siblings, also stayed in Płock. In 1881, he married Gołda Dwojra Kalmus and had 12 children with her: Ryfka Chaja (born in 1883), Szyja Pinkus (born in 1884), Icek (born in 1887), Nechemia (1888–1903), Ruchla (1889–1903), Dawid (born in 1891), Mariem (born in 1892), Józef (born in 1893), Estera (born in 1895), Masza (born in 1896), Aron (1897–1) 1900) and Lea (born 1901).
In the 1930s, Józef Szeraszew ran his father’s watchmaker’s shop at 12 Kolegialna St. He married Bronisława Grabman and they had a son – Abram (born 1931).
Dawid married Hena Lindner from Warsaw.
Mariem married Mojżesz Holcman and they had a daughter, Gabrysia (born in 1930) and a son, Evez (born in 1936) [more about the Holcman family – link]. All four died in the Holocaust. Probably their fate was shared by other children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Liba and Lejb Szeraszew, but nothing else about them is currently known.
Both daughters of Abram (Adolf) Szeraszew (Szereszewski) survived the war. Both were hiding thanks to so-called “Aryan papers”, my grandmother Roma – together with her husband and son. Helena (Sara Chaja) Szereszewska’s children in Switzerland also survived. She died in 1940. Some of her descendants still live in Switzerland, others in Canada.
Written by Urszula Grabowska
Photos from the family archives of Urszula Grabowska.
Fiszel Zylberberg (1909-1942), graphic artist and painter, was the son of the trader Wolf Zelig and Hena Ruchla nee Nordenberg. At the age of 16 he went to Warsaw, where he studied drawing during private lessons. Since 1930 he studied as a free student of […]
