Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles, Festival of Shelters) is a holiday commemorating the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and wandering in the desert during which they experienced direct divine protection. At the time of this holiday, the sukkot (in Polish „kuczki”) are being built, in which people […]
The property with the former mortgage number 281 is located in the eastern corner of Tumska and Kościuszki streets, in the space of the historic downtown of Płock. The first owner of the property was Ludwik Mahn, an assessor, the architect of the Płock department, […]
Józef Kwiatek was born on January 22, 1874 in Płock, in a large Jewish family. His father Fiszel, son of Efroim Kwiatek (1792-1875) and Sura née Kagan, traded in colonial goods. Józef’s mother was Hinda née Prussak. Józef had six siblings – brothers Symcha (born in 1876), Efroim (born in 1884) and Hersz (born in 1868) and sisters Fajga Ryfka (born in 1870), Ides (born in 1863) and Necha (born in 1881) and two half-siblings – Izrael (born in 1856) and Sura (born in 1854).
In 1892 Józef graduated from the Provincial Junior High School in Płock. Then he attended the Medical Faculty of the Imperial University of Warsaw. Already in the first year he was forced to leave school – he was arrested in April 1894 during a patriotic manifestation called “kilińszczyzna”. Released without a sentence after a month, on November 29, 1894, he was arrested again on charges of creating an illegal organization devoted to teaching free of charge, operating essentially among assimilated Jews. This time Kwiatek was in prison for half a year, then remained under police surveillance until May 1, 1896. At the same time, he was relegated from the university and on 6 May 1896 sentenced to two years of exile, which occured during the period of military service, part of which – four months – Kwiatek was to spend in a disciplinary battalion. After serving a sentence in Kherson, southern Ukraine, in an isolated cell, Kwiatek was assigned to a Turkestan regiment and was released several months ahead of schedule due to health problems. He returned to Płock in the spring of 1898. In the same year he started studying at Dorpat, this time at the legal department. At the same time, he was active in the ranks of PPS (Polish Socialist Party) and the Polish Youth Circle. In 1899 he was expelled from the university as a result of participation in student riots, but was soon re-admitted. He graduated in 1902, but the authorities did not allow him to take the state exam, due to Kwiat’s acceptance of the chairmanship of the delegation making political demands. In 1902 he returned to his hometown. He took part in the 6th Congress of the Polish Socialist Party in Lublin, where he requested the establishment of the Jewish Committee of the Polish Socialist Party. Soon he went abroad and there he began work on the PPS program. He worked in Berlin, Katowice and Krakow. He was a collaborator of “Gazeta Robotnicza”, “Naprzód” and “Przedświt” magazines. In “Przedświt”, he placed a number of articles under the pseudonym Flis. He also printed in Krakow in 1904, in the series of “Latarnia” publications, the brochure “On the Jewish matter” under the pseudonym T. Wileński. In June 1903 he became a member of the PPS Jewish Committee. He published the magazine “Arbajter” – a part of the PPS structures, in Yiddish.
In autumn 1903 he returned to the Kingdom and became a member of the Central Workers’ Committee of the Polish Socialist Party (August 18, 1904). He was also the editor of the “Robotnik” magazine. In November 1904, he organized the first armed demonstration since 1863 in Grzybowski Square in Warsaw, directed against the recruitment of the Russian army in connection with the war with Japan. In January 1905 he organized a great general strike, which took the form of a revolutionary act. In November 1905, tried by a Warsaw court, after his acquittal, he went abroad. After the 8th Congress of the PPS in Lviv, he returned to the Kingdom and took part in the work of the Warsaw organization of the PPS. In October 1906 he was arrested again. This time he received a sentence. He served it in Warsaw in the prison in Mokotów, and then in Łomża. The prison had an influence on his health – in early 1908 he left it with larynx tuberculosis. After his release, he went abroad. In Cieszyn, and then in Krakow, he conducted lively political and cultural activities. He was the chairman of the congress of Polish progressive youth in Zurich, he wrote for daily and monthly magazines, among others “Krytyka” and “Sfinks”, gave lectures on literary topics, participated in many rallies and meetings, especially in Silesia, worked on the Management Board of the Adam Mickiewicz People’s University, organized the Educational Department of the Polish Social Democratic Party of Galicia and Cieszyn Silesia, while not caring much about his fragile health. Only at the end of his life did he undergo treatment – initially in Zakopane, at the beginning of 1910 in Merana. Having learned about his incurable disease, he returned to Krakow with the intention of committing suicide, as he did not want to die being a burden to others. On January 20, 1910, he took his own life at the “Pod Różą” hotel, using a revolver. His funeral took place on January 23 at the Jewish cemetery, becoming at the same time a great manifestation. Bolesław Limanowski became the head of the Committee to commemorate Józef Kwiatek. The collected funds allowed founding a tomb with a commemorative inscription and establishing a mobile library named after Kwiatek.
In 1930, Kwiatek was posthumously awarded the Cross of Independence with Swords. In 1935, the 25th anniversary of his death was solemnly celebrated – in his hometown, a commemorative plaque was placed on the wall of the house where he was born, and Szeroka Street, where he spent his childhood, was renamed to Józefa Kwiatka Street.
In 1816, in Kutno Mordka Lindeman (Linderman) (born ca. 1791), son of the trader Berek and Bluma (daughter of Chaim), married Perel Fux (born ca. 1792), the daughter of the baker Szyja and Małka (daughter of Jonasz). In 1817 their son Chaim was born, and […]
One of the families associated with the former Szeroka Street (currently Józefa Kwiatka St.) was the Berliner family. Beniamin Berliner was born in 1829 in Płock as the son of Hersz and Maria. He was a tailor by profession (like his parents). In 1851 he […]
On September 19, a board exhibition entitled Józef Kwiatek and his street which the Nobiscum Foundation has realized in connection with the 145th anniversary of birth of Józef Kwiatek (1874-1910), will be opened at the P Gallery in the Płock City Hall.
The exhibition was prepared based on source materials available in the State Archives in Płock, the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, the Central Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw, the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute as well as the Płock Scientific Society and the archives of the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Płock.
The exhibition tells the history of the most important Jewish street of pre-war Płock: facts related to everyday life and outstanding Płock citizens are intertwined with memories of residents and family souvenirs.
An important part of the exhibition are photographs of Tomasz Jacek Gałązka from Płock (one of them above) presenting Kwiatka Street, which were made available to the Foundation courtesy of the director of the State Archives in Płock Tomasz Piekarski.
We implement the project thanks to the funding received from the City of Płock.
The exhibition will be open until November 6, 2019.
World War II brought the extermination of the Jews of Płock. In February and March 1941, the Nazi occupants deported about 10,000 Jews from Płock and nearby towns to German concentration camps. From around 9,000 of Jewish people living in Płock before the outbreak of […]
In 1841, property with the mortgage number 37 at Grodzka Street was purchased from Anna Kłobuszewska nee Zawidzka and Teofila Białkowska née Kłobuszewska by Samuel Majeran. In the years 1841-1842 Majeran erected a brick tenement house on the square. Since 1873, the owner of the […]
My grandfather, Izydor Wajcman (born 1867), came from a large Jewish family associated with Wyszogród. He was the son of Szmul Jochim (1841-1892), son of Zelik Lewek (born 1794) and Ryfka née Eben (born 1796), and Estera Sura née Albert (1837-1901), daughter of Mosiek Albert (born 1805) and Dwojra née Grosman (born 1808). Mosiek Albert was a grinder by profession. Szmul Jochim Wajcman was the owner of the property located at Rembowska Street (mortgage number 150). He lived there with his wife and children: Lewek Moszek, Ryfka (born 1869), Fajga (born 1870), Zelik (born 1873) and aforementioned Izydor.
My grandfather’s sister Ryfka Wajcman married a merchant named Moszek Aron Sadzawka (1864-1936) from Płock. They had seven children: sons Samuel (born 1896), Szaja (born 1901), Kazriel (1903-1910) and daughters Bajla (born 1897), Dyna (born 1898), Małka (1899-1918) and Gitla (born 1907). Ryfka Wajcman died in Treblinka, just like her son Samuel and his wife Złata and daughter Fajga Rachela.
Fajga Wajcman in 1897 married Moses Henszel. In 1904, they emigrated to the United States. They settled in the New York Bronx.
My grandfather’s brother – Zelik Wajcman married Fruma Wajcman, whom he met among students at the Imperial University of Warsaw. Zelik already had connections with the Zionist movement. Fruma, who came from Belarus, studied dentistry in Warsaw. Zelik and Fruma married in 1906 and soon after they left for Palestine.
In the 1890s, Izydor Wajcman moved to Warsaw. On July 21, 1896, he married Chawa (Ewa) Żurkowska from Płock (born 1873).
My grandmother Chawa was the daughter of Cerka Wyszogród (born 1849) and Jakub Mordka Żurkowski (born 1846) from Zgierz, son of Josek and Liba née Libersztejn. She had two sisters – Liba Fajga (born 1873) and Tauba Iska (born 1876) and brother Moszek Kalman (born 1870). Chawa’s grandfather – Szaja Wyszogród (born 1824) came from Drobin. In 1844 he married Ejdla Czerkas from Warsaw, daughter of Pinkus and Ryfka. According to the information contained in the Płock Calendar for the leap year 1876, Szaja Wyszogród was a merchant of grain and wool. At the same time, he was the owner of a property located at 3 Bielska Street (the mortgage number 118) and a property at 55 Szeroka Street (the mortgage number 135).
My grandmother’s sister – Tauba Iska in 1905 married Jakub Puszet. They both emigrated to Canada after 1912.
In Warsaw, the children of Chawa and Izydor Wajcman were born: Samuel (1899-1963), Józef (1902-1942) and twins: my mother Estera and Marek (Mordechaj) (born 1907, my mother died in 2002, Marek in 1995).
Izydor Wajcman provided for his family working as a private clerk. The family lived at 30 Świętojerska Street (where the Chinese Embassy is currently located). They usually spent their holidays in Otwock, Świder, Krynica, Marienbad or Zakopane. My mother’s family home was connected to Jewish tradition as well as Polish culture and secular upbringing of children. My mother Estera was a member of the socialist-Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair. She received her secondary school certificate in Warsaw’s high school. Together with her two brothers, Samuel and Marek, as well as most of her friends, she emigrated to Palestine in the 1930s. My parents were married there (my dad Natan Scheiner was born in 1908 in Lviv).
Józef Wajcman graduated from the Jewish Private Junior High School of the Ascola Society (he received his secondary school certificate on June 5, 1923), then he joined the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of Warsaw, which he completed on June 26, 1928. After attending court and lawyer’s apprenticeship with attorney Stanisław Wyszogród, he started working in his own office at 32 Senatorska Street, where he dealt with civil cases. Józef married Lusia (her maiden name remains unknown), with whom he had a daughter, Joasia (born 1937).
After the outbreak of the war, Izydor and Ewa Wajcman were displaced to 21 Franciszkańska Street. They lived with Mejer Puszet (the owner of a pharmacy). It was probably their last address.
My grandparents Izydor and Ewa, their son Józef together with his wife Lusia and their daughter Joasia perished in Treblinka.
Ewa Błyskowska, Bruksela
On August 18, 1920, the Bolshevik army attacked Płock. Until August 19, the city’s civilian population, including women and children, heroically defended themselves on the barricades along with the army, preventing soldiers of Bolshevik Russia from gaining the bridgehead and crossing the Vistula. In the […]
