Although Nachum Sokołow was born in Wyszogród, he spent his childhood and youth in Płock. The Old market Square, where he lived with his parents and siblings and studied Latin with professor Walenty Masłowski, Synagogalna Street and the Dancygier School, which he attended, the park […]
By the decision of the Jan Jagielski Grants Committee operating in the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, the Nobiscum Foundation has received a grant for a project of the film entitled “Black skies. The fate of Płock Jews in the years 1941-1945”. […]
Szmuel Penson (1865-1939) – melamed, publicist, son of Izrael and Estera née Segał. He was born in the town of Olkieniki in south-eastern Lithuania. In the 1890s he came to Płock, and in 1896 he married Itta Kajla née Landau (born 1868), the daughter of the tavern owner Szmul Moszek and Bajla Rykla née Liberman. For many years, Penson taught Hebrew in Jewish schools in Płock. He organized evening courses of Hebrew and Jewish literature. His students were, among others Zysze Landau, Icchak Grünbaum, Becalel Okolica and Szlomo Greenspan. From 1918 he was associated with the Jewish Coeducational Middle School of Humanities. He was liked and popular among the Jewish youth in Płock. He published in the newspaper “Hacefira”. In Płock, he lived with his family in a tenement house at 12 Tumska Street. He died a few days before the German army entered Płock.
Bibliography:
Plotzk (Plock); a history of an ancient Jewish community in Poland, ed. E. Eisenberg, Tel-Aviv 1967
Przedpełski J., Stefański J., Żydzi płoccy w dziejach miasta, Płock 2012
Izrael Wolf Cynamon – teacher, son of Aron Hersz and Estera née Goldszyd, was born on January 1, 1883 in Płock. As a boy, he attended private studies, then he passed the exam at the government middle school in Płock and received a certificate of […]
In 1926, a great campaign was organized in Poland to collect signatures with wishes in tribute to the American people in memory of the 150th anniversary of the independence of the United States. This event was attended, among others, by schools in Płock, including the […]
Julian Stryjkowski (before the war known as Pesach Stark) (1905-1996) – writer, author of, among others the novels “Głosy w ciemności” [“Voices in Darkness”] (1956), “Austeria” (1966), “Sen Azrila” [“Azril’s Dream”] (1975), “Czarna róża” [“Black Rose”] (1962), “Przybysz z Narbony” [“Stranger from Narbonne”] (1978). He came from the city of Stryj in Ukraine, he was the son of melamed Cwi Rosenmann and Chana née Stark. He graduated from the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv with a doctoral degree, then in the years 1932-1933 he was a Polish language teacher at the Jewish Coeducational Middle School of Humanities in Płock at 28 Kolegialna Street. From 1934 he was associated with the Communist Party of Western Ukraine, for which in 1935- 1936 he was imprisoned. He then moved to Warsaw, where he started working in a bookstore, and also published in the pages of “Młody świat”. During World War II, he was in the USSR. After the war, he was the editor of the Polish Press Agency. In the years 1954-1978 he was professionally associated with the monthly “Twórczość”. In 1975 he was one of the signatories of “Letter 59”. Laureate of the A. Jurzykowski Foundation Prize in New York (1979), Stanisław Vincenz Award (1986) and the Jan Parandowski Polish PEN Club Award (1993).
Chana Sura Klejn (born in 1912 in Płock) – teacher, daughter of Jojne and Chana Rojza. A graduate of the Zofia Bukowiecka State Teachers’ College for Women in Płock (she received the diploma of a primary school teacher in 1931). She was the head of […]
Leon Kaufman was born in 1872 in Pawłów (formerly the property of Strachacz), on the estate of his grandfather Wolf Kaufman. He was the son of the trader Moszek Aron and Hinda née Kirsztejn. Before 1875, Leon, together with his sister Łucja and his parents, […]
Lejb Abrahamowicz Rakowski (around 1817-1893) – a rabbi of Płock, an outstanding Talmudist. Son of Abram and Paja. His wife was Fajga née Horwitz (approx. 1818-1878), daughter of Moszek Chaim and Cypra née Frenkiel, with whom he had sons Abba Józef (born 1857), Jankiel Moszek (born 1863), Szoel Zelman (born 1865) and daughter Paja Basza (born 1861). He was a rabbi in the town of Stawiski, then he was appointed as the rabbi of Płock in 1864, and again in 1867. During his rabbinate, the Izaak Fogel Jewish Hospital was created, and Lejb Abrahamowicz Rakowski helped raise funds for this purpose. He also introduced modern teaching methods in Płock cheders and modernized the seat of the Talmud-Torah. In 1880 he was dismissed from his position of rabbi in Płock and took up the rabbinate in Marijampole.
Juda Lejb Złotnik (1888-1962) – rabbi, son of Abram Icek and Chana Nacha née Lisser. He was the half-brother of rabbi Jonasz Markus Złotnik (1858-1922). In Płock, he attended one of the cheders and graduated from the rabbinical seminary in Olsztyn. In 1910, he passed […]
