Nusen aka Natan Korzeń was born on April 17, 1895 in Płock, as the son of Szlama Majer and Ruchla Łaja nee Szczawińska. Natan Korzeń, a member of a young group of Polish painters, was considered one of the most important Jewish artists in Poland. […]
An extraordinary 1937 film by Józef Herman Keller and his son Norton has been just published on JewishPlock.eu. The Nobiscum Foundation received the film courtesy of Susan Keller Mouckley, Sandra Brygart Rodriguez and Arieh Bomzon. The film was digitized by the Yad Vashem Institute at […]
On the night of February 20-21, 1941, the Germans began to deport Jews from Płock. On the morning of February 21, the Jewish population was concentrated on Kwiatka Street and between the synagogue and Bielska Street: “… since 4 in the morning, there was light in all the apartments, people squeezed on the stairs, running from room to room […] the town seemed to be calm, but in front of every Jewish home there were SS guards with bayonets mounted on their weapons. People thought they were fatalists. Whatever will be, will be. But when they saw the SS guards, panic broke out, something was different than usual. Until then all displacement had been carried out by the 13th police battalion […] A short winter day passed in anticipation of the angel of death, no one thought that hell had already broken out, more than 3/4 of the inhabitants were driven out into the street, surrounded by a cordon of SS and gendarmerie. All those bastards used their power to their liking…” Sick and disabled people were killed on the spot. “Heavily wounded people laid on the ground, religious Mayer Kahn suffered from a heart attack, even though he had not been beaten by anyone, it was like a mist had surroundered him, his eyes were clouded, the psalm to the dead flashed through his head, but he no longer could say it, half his body was like made of stone”. In the afternoon, the gathered people were taken away. Ca. 4,000 people were deported to the camp in Działdowo on that day. “The rest of us went back down the street to their homes after long hours of waiting and suffering, and they were summoned the next day.”
The text uses fragments of the testimony of Symcha Guterman (born in 1903) titled “Leaves from Fire”, Polish version published by the Płock Scientific Society in 2004.
Photo of the deportation of Płock Jews from Jakub Guterman’s private collection.
The Arbajter family lived in Płock at 3 Kwiatka Street in the tenement house of Mendel Jakub Perelgryc and his wife Hinda Małka nee Radzik. Hersz Icek Arbajter (1889-1942), son of Mordka and Chaja Hinda nee Żwirek, was a tailor by profession. His wife was […]
Sunday, March 1, 2020, marks the 79th anniversary of the last deportation of Jews from the Płock ghetto. On this day, the Nobiscum Foundation invites you to the Art Gallery of Płock for the premiere of its third publication – the book entitled “Tema. Memories […]
At the beginning of the 19th century, the square with a brick house on the property marked with mortgage number 283 belonged to a carpenter Jan Franciszek Frahm (around 1768-1813) from Hamburg. As he had no children, after his death the property was inherited in half by his wife Krystyna née Mertens, and in the second half by his brother – Joachim Henryk Frahm (around 1775-1819), who was a master blacksmith. By virtue of the arrangement concluded in the Płock Notary Office in 1815, Joachim Henryk purchased her part of the property from Krystyna.
After the death of Joachim Henryk Frahm, the property was inherited in half by his children – Jan Franciszek and Fryderyka Wilhelmina, the second part was received by his wife – Fryderyka Wilhelmina née Elz, who, after the death of her husband remarried to Józef Siłakowski, who she admitted as co-owner of the property.
Józef Siłakowski (born in 1791; son of Szymon and Petronella née Kosiński) was a blacksmith by profession, and also a fireman in Płock.
In 1842, Fryderyka Wilhelmina and Józef Siłakowski acquired 1/4 of the property from Fryderyka Wilhelmina Bohm née Frahm. Four years later they bought the part of Jan Franciszek Frahm. After the death of Józef Siłakowski, the co-ownership of the property was inherited by his son Jan Siłakowski (born in 1820) as well as Augusta Wilhelmina and Jerzy Juliusz Herml (grandchildren). The heirloom of Augusta Wilhelmina Winkler née Herml was acquired by virtue of the acts of 1871 and 1873 by Fryderyka Wilhelmina Siłakowska née Elz.
At that time, apart from the brick front house, there were two granaries, a smithy, a brick outbuilding and four wooden outbuildings. There was a garden at the back of the property as well.
In 1877, Jan Siłakowski purchased a 5/8 part of the property from Fryderyka Wilhelmina Siłakowska, becoming its sole owner. In the same year he sold it to the merchant Lejb Płońskier.
Lejb Płońskier was born on July 1, 1844 in Płock, as the son of Mordka and Sura. His wife was Nycha Małka née Horenfeld (1842-1894), daughter of Dawid and Sura Ryfka née Bauman. Lejb Płońskier traded tobacco products. He was also a well-known social activist, co-founder and member of the board of the Society of Free Medical Assistance to Poor Jews, and co-founder of the Jewish Charity Society in Płock. He was also a member of the Płock Jewish religious commune supervision.
During Lejb Płońskier’s ownership, significant investments were made in the property. In 1879, the owner received permission to build a store in the outbuilding, and the following year – to open two shops in the front house. In 1887 he received permission for building a third floor extension of the brick outbuilding in the yard of the property and construction of another wooden outbuilding.
According to information from 1888, next to the brick, one-story front house, with rooms in the attic, in the property there was also a brick one-story outbuilding covered with tiles (a wooden outbuilding stood between the above-mentioned buildings), a three-story stone outbuilding with basements, a brick wall sukkah and a three-story brick outbuilding. Furthermore, there was an orchard and a number of utilitarian buildings.
In 1898, the one-story front house was extended and rebuilt, the three-story outbuilding was extended, and a one-story brick outbuilding was erected. In 1900, a brick one-story utility building was erected as well.
After the death of Lejb Płońskier (he died in 1908), the property was inherited by his children: Rafał, Szajna Hinda Sztern, Hena Rojza Fast, Ruchla Łaja Lewin, Rywka Lewin, Hudes Szlosberg, Ejdla and Blima. The sisters sold their parts to Rafał for the sum of 6839 rubles.
Rafał Płońskier (1870-1930), married to Chana née Kino, with whom he had three children: Moryc Markus, Fejbusz and Mira, was an industrialist. Before World War I he was a manager of a tobacco factory in Grodno. He was a member of the Credit Society in Płock, from 1912 a partner in A. Rogozik’s Banking Company. From 1905, he was the vice-president of the Jewish Community Council in Płock, from 1918 – the president of the Trade Union of Jewish Merchants in Płock. In the interwar period he was the president of the Jewish Hospital. He was also a member of the board of the Jewish Charity Society. He was a co-founder of the Association of Real Estate Owners of the town of Płock.
Since 1917, Edward Trautman’s bookstore operated in Płońskier’s estate. In the interwar period, at 4 Kolegialna Street, there was a grocery store of Szlama Lanilut, tobacco shop of Rafał Płońskier (later of M. Szlossberg), sewing machines were sold there by Henoch Szylit, and roofing paper by B. Zeligman.
Among the residents of the property was the well-known photographer from Płock, Samuel Józef Ostrower.
Samuel Józef Ostrower (1888-1933), son of Icek Gitman and Szajndla Ruchla née Lask, in 1918 married Dwojra Borensztejn, daughter of Moszek Jakub and Rajzla née Tyński. In 1922, their son Alexander was born. Ostrower received education related to the profession of photographer thanks to Apoloniusz Grzywiński in 1908-1911. After serving in the army from 1911 to 1913, he practiced in Zambrów and Lipno for four years. From 1917 he worked at the photographic studio of Sylwin Przybojewski. In 1921 he opened an independent photographic studio under the name “Rembrandt” Artistic Photography Studio. The studio was located in the yard of the property at the corner of Tumska and Kolegialna Streets. The area of Ostrower’s photographic activity was portrait, individual and group photography. Ostrower’s photographs were published in the local press, including “Mazowsze Płockie and Kujawy”. During the “Art of Płock” exhibition, presented in 1932, Ostrower exhibited five photographs titled: “Interior”, “Head” (three photographs of this title) and “Studio”. In 1932, Ostrower moved the studio to 8a Tumska Street. After his death, the photo studio was run by his wife Dora with the help of photographer Szmul Robak. Because it brought little income to its owner, who had a child, in 1936 she sold the studio to Abram Watman.
Around 1933, Adam Neuman-Nowicki (born 1925 – link: the biogram of Adam Neuman-Nowicki) moved to Płońskier’s tenement house with his parents – Mosze Szlomo (1893-1942) and Frymeta neé Goldkind (1894-1942). Mosze Szlomo Nejman was an accountant at the Margulies agricultural machinery factory, later he ran the state lottery at 3 Kolegialna Street. In the tenement house at 4 Kolegialna Street, the Nejman family ran a hotel. Adam Neuman-Nowicki recalls their apartment in the Płońskier tenement house:
The property on Kolegialna Street had a one-story front house, three outbuildings and two courtyards. On one side of the entrance gate there was Kozakiewicz’s confectionery, and on the other side – Szylit’s bicycle shop. The caretaker lived in the one-story outbuilding on the first floor, and a tenant on the ground floor. In the middle outbuilding on the first floor was our apartment, and on the second floor lived the Salak family with their daughter and younger son Andrzej, who was my school friend. In the second courtyard on the right was a bakery of the Kozakiewicz confectionery, while on the left were sheds and a public toilet used mostly by the employees of the bakery. The whole building had a sewage system and each flat had its own toilet. We had four rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom with a tub, a sink and a toilet. Parents converted one large room into two smaller ones. At the beginning, there were two double, one four-bed and one single room for our guests. In the middle of the apartment there was a spacious dining room with a large table, a piano and a couch, as well as a table with a radio […] I remember some unusual guests. They were the Jewish theater groups of Ida Kamińska and at other times Lola Folman.
By the decision of the District Court in Płock of September 27, 1932, the owner of the property located at ul. Kolegialna 4 became the Bankruptcy Trustee of the A. Rogozik Banking Company in Płock. Pursuant to the decision of the Management Board of the Credit Society of the Town of Płock of March 2, 1933, the property was put up for sale by public auction due to late loan installments. Its last owner was Jakub Józef Głowiński, who purchased it at a public auction at the Town Court on October 4, 1937.
Jakub Józef Głowiński, born on December 4, 1870 in Płock, was the son of Mordka – a trader and Chaja Ryfka. His wife was Mindla née Podrygał, with whom he had six children: Masza Cwyja Flek, Jerma, Menachem, Chaja Rywa Arendt, Ruchla Arendt and Tauba Merenlender. Jakub Józef Głowiński was a member of the board of the Zionist Office association in Płock and the owner of several Płock properties (at 24 Szeroka St., 22 Tumska St. and 11 Królewiecka St.), and above all a well-known industrialist from Płock, co-owner of the J.J. Głowiński, A. Kenigsberg & Co. Merchants’ Mill in Płock. The company was founded in 1913. It was located in a real estate marked with mortgage number 185½ B (45 Bielska St.), which Jakub Józef Głowiński, Abram Liber Kenigsberg, Abram Pantofel and Hersz Chaim Hamburger purchased from Franciszek Gutowski. It was an electric flour mill.
In 1927, Głowiński leased a steam mill in Włocławek from the company “L. L. Sztern & Sons Włocławek Steam Mill Co.”, and in 1929 he established another company with them in order to purchase, sale and process grain as well as grain products such as flour, bran, etc. under the name L. Stern, JJ Głowiński, A. Kenigsberg & Co. Mercantile House, with its registered office in Włocławek 30/32 Karnkowskiego St. A year earlier, Jakub Józef Głowiński, together with Menachem Głowiński and Mordka Głowiński, established a company with Hersz Ajzyk in order to operate a motor mill built in Ajzyk’s estate in Dobrzyń nad Drwęcą. Commercial part of the enterprise under the name “J.J. Głowiński & Co.” was run exclusively by the Głowiński family – they were responsible for buying and selling grain, grain products, concluding contracts with sellers, buyers, issuing, signing checks, bills of exchange and all monetary obligations.
Jakub Józef Głowiński and his five children were murdered during World War II. His inheritance passed after his death to Ruchla Arendt and Zygmunt Flek – the only son of Masza Cwyja Flek nee Głowińska.
After the war, the property at 4 Kolegialna 4 Street housed the seat of the Leatherworkers and Saddlers Cooperative and a vulcanization company of Stanisław Grzymała.
Bibliography:
Nowak G., Kolegialna 4 [exhibition catalogue], Płock, 2017
The empty square marked with mortgage number 256 at the former Szeroka Street belonged to the police director Wilhelm Czarnowski at the beginning of the 19th century. After his death, the property was inherited by his juvenile sons – Juliusz and Henryk Czarnowski. As a […]
This Monday, 27 January 2020, marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Answering the annual appeal of the Shalom Foundation, let us join the “Light of Remembrance” action that day. Let’s light candles in our windows in Płock at 6 p.m. as a sign of commemoration […]
The tenement house at 26 Sienkiewicza Street in Płock, in which the Private Upper Secondary Art School is currently located, belonged to the Altberg family before the war. Here, on March 15, 1938, Paulina Altberg, née Golde, daughter of Benjamin and Liba Rechla née Goldsztejn, who was a well-known charity activist, died. Paulina’s daughter – Emma, was an outstanding pianist, harpsichordist, music educator and publicist.
Emma Altberg was born on January 14, 1889. She was an outstanding pianist, harpsichordist, music teacher and publicist. She studied social sciences and philosophy in Switzerland, from 1909 she studied piano at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. After graduating in 1913, she continued her education at one-year master course for extremely talented graduates. During the interwar period, she lived in Warsaw, where she conducted her pedagogical and journalistic activities. She gave private lessons and led music courses organized by the Workers Association of Children’s Friends. She was a co-founder of the Association of Early Music Lovers and the editor of “Ekspress Poranny” (“Morning Express”). After the outbreak of World War II, she left for Vilnius, where she took the position of a teacher at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Conservatory. After the Germans entered the city, she was forced to escape. She spent the occupation period with her sister, hiding in Rohaczów region. In the last year of the war, she returned to Vilnius. After the liberation of the city, she worked at the Vilnius State Conservatory as the head of the special piano class. She then moved to Łódź, where from September 1945 she taught piano and music programs at the People’s Music Institute. A year later she was employed at the State High School of Music, and in 1948 she took up the post of professor of piano at the State Music University. In 1956 she was awarded the title of associate professor. She was a lively journalistic and scientific activist. Her articles were printed in “Poradnik Muzyczny” (“Music Guide”), “Ruch Muzyczny” (“Music Movement”) and the quarterly “Muzyka” (“Music”), among others. She developed many valuable textbooks for learning music, including “Czytanki muzyczne” (“Musical readings”), which are used even today as material of the obligatory curriculum. She published a book entitled “Polscy pianiści” (“Polish pianists”). She was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
You can read more about Emma Altberg in the article by Małgorzata Łyczakowska (in Polish only): http://www.amuz.lodz.pl/dmdocuments/notes-muzyczny-2016-2/157-180–notes-muzyczny-2-6-2016.pdf
About the Iwanowski family, who helped Emma Altberg hide during the war: https://sprawiedliwi.org.pl/en/stories-of-rescue/story-iwanowski-family
In 1857, Chaim Rafał Kempner (ca. 1817-1870) opened a large bookshop in Płock, where a reading room and a library also operated. The bookstore, which was located at Grodzka Street, recommended all the book novelties, in all branches of science, as well as romance, novels […]
