Estera Golde-Stróżecka – freethinker, activist for women’s rights, journalist, political and cultural-educational activist, doctor, was born on August 1, 1872 in Płock, as the daughter of Beniamin and Liba Ruchla nee Goldsztejn. Her father was a well-known merchant, industrialist and philanthrope. After graduating from the […]
The records reveal that Bomzon family have lived in Płock from the beginning of the 19th century. My paternal great-grandfather, Izrael Abram Bomzon (1861-1913) was one of the six children of Dawid Szlama Bomzon (1826-1904) and Ruchla Łaja Bomzon née Liberman (1830-?) and a gingerbread […]
Stanisław (Salomon) Posner was born on November 21, 1868 as the son of Leon and Matylda née Bornstein. His father was one of the proponents of the assimilation, many of his articles were printed in Warsaw’s “Jutrzenka”. Stanisław Posner’s sister was Malwina Garfein-Garska – writer and publicist, author of Gromnice (1907) and Opowieść o duszy polskiej (1912). Stanisław’s great-grandfather – Salomon Markus Posner (1770-1848) – a merchant and philanthropist from Finland, as a young man settled in Warsaw, where he became a salt trader and soon reached a considerable fortune. Thanks to it, in 1817 he was able to buy land in Kuchary Żydowskie, where he moved with his family and, in 1823, founded one of the first textile factories in the Kingdom of Poland.
Stanisław Posner was an outstanding lawyer – theoretician. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Imperial University of Warsaw. Already as a student, since 1891, he wrote articles for “Gazeta Sądowa Warszawska”. In 1893, he was awarded a gold medal for a contest study titled Szkoła historyczna prawa w Niemczech (The historic legal education in Germany). He continued his studies in the years 1893-1895 at the Faculty of Law of the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. After returning to Poland, he was involved in research and journalism. In 1900 he published his work entitled Prawo a życie, which was awarded at the “Gazeta Sądowa” competition, and three years later, a famous study Nad otchłanią (Over the abyss). In this work, he aimed to prove that human trafficking is not fiction, he cited in detail the court hearings of two trials in Bytom and Piotrków, in which the accused admitted that they were involved in deporting women to brothels in South America. At the time, such trials were exceptional. His creative achievements include dozens of articles in the pages of “Przegląd Tygodniowy”, “Prawda”, “Ogniwo”, “Themis Polska”, “Wiedza”, “Książka”, “Czasopismo prawnicze i ekonomiczne”, “Przegląd Filozoficzny”, “Przegląd Polityczny”, „Wielka Encyklopedia Ilustrowana”. Posner was the author of numerous books and brochures in Polish, French and German from various fields of legal and social sciences. Among his many works, worth mentioning are: Domy ludowe w Belgii (Workers’ Houses in Belgium; in which he deals with workers’ cooperatives), Drogi samopomocy społecznej (Means of social self-help; where we can find essays on, among others, Franciszek Tarczyński and buttonery in the town of Sochocin) or the work Dlaczego jestem socjalistką? (Why am I a socialist?), published in 1921. As Feliks Perl wrote, Stanisław Posner was a socialist in the name of respect for man, in the name of creating conditions for man to fulfill his human potential.
During World War I, Stanisław Posner was in exile in Western Europe. At the time, he worked with extraordinary effort for the cause of Poland’s independence. He gained the opinion of a reliable informant, a noble politician, a great patriot, and at the same time a modern European. Posner wrote about Poland for numerous French magazines, gave lectures, held private meetings with influential people. At the same time, he organized Poles in France, preparing them for future activities in independent Poland. He was the initiator and creator of the Adam Mickiewicz People’s University in Paris, which was founded in 1916. Together with Józefa Franciszka Joteyko and Maria Grzegorzewska, he organized the Polish Teaching League – an institution that set itself the task of collecting for the country’s needs materials in the field of education and teaching methods, as well as promoting the Polish independence movement. From Paris, under his own name or a pseudonym of Rajmund Kucharski, he wrote numerous letters to Polish magazines published in Russia by Polish emigrants.
In 1922, Stanisław Posner was elected from the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) list in the Kielce Province to the Senate of the Republic of Poland. He worked in the Legal, Foreign and Military Affairs Committee. In 1928 he again became a senator from the PPS state list, he was then entrusted with the dignity of the Senate Deputy Marshal. For both terms he was the vice president of the club of the Association of Polish Socialist Parliament Members and the president of the socialist faction in the Senate. He spoke many times in the most important debates. His parliamentary speeches testifying to his deep knowledge of law and multilateral erudition have earned him the status of an eminent parliamentarian. Collected in the book Pięć lat pracy w Senacie Rzeczypospolitej 1922–1927 (Five Years of Work in the Senate of the Republic of Poland 1922–1927), they were published in 1928 by Księgarnia Robotnicza.
Stanisław Posner’s great contribution was Poland’s ratification of the ban on night work and the admission of children under the age of 14 to industrial work, recognized at the First International Labor Conference in Washington in 1919. He was also one of the authors of the Geneva Declaration of 1924, in which children’s rights were first listed, and one of the founders and vice-chairman of the League for the Defense of Human and Citizen Rights. He was one of the founders and a board member of the Polish Association of the League of Nations. He actively worked in the Interparliamentary Union – an international organization founded in 1889, the goal of which was to protect peace and fuel positive democratic change through political dialogue and actions. Finally, he worked for young people in a institution dear to his heart, which was established in 1922 – the State Institute of Special Education, under the guidance of professor Maria Grzegorzewska – creator of special education in Poland.
Let’s remember, wrote Posner, that it is happiness to love people. You have to respect them, not hate them and despise them. You need to bind people together, not divide them and grind their relationships to dust. You need to establish social connectivity, instead of opening craters of hatred and selfishness…
Stanisław Posner died on May 8, 1930. He was buried in the Evangelical-Augsburg cemetery in Warsaw.
The Nobiscum Foundation has devoted an exhibition to Stanisław Posner, which was prepared last year and presented so far at the Department No. 7 of the Władysław Broniewski Library in Płock, during the 5th January Uprising Run in Kuchary Żydowskie, in the Municipal Culture Centre in Płońsk during this year’s Jewish Culture Festival in the city of Ben Gurion and the Municipal Culture Centre in Sochocin.
Bibliography:
Perl F., Stanisław Posner, Cracow, 1927
Stanisław Posner. Wspomnienie [in:] “Gazeta Sądowa Warszawska” nr 20 z 19 maja 1930 r.
Świdwiński St., Wspomnienia pośmiertne. Senator Stanisław Posner [:] “Ogniwo: organ informacyjny i sprawozdawczy Związku Zawodowego Nauczycielstwa Polskich Szkół Średnich i Biuletyn Zarządu Głównego Z.Z.N.P.S.Ś.”, nr 5 (maj 1930)
websites:
Rudold (Chaim Rubin) Oberfeld was born on November 14, 1859, as the son of Jakow and Ruchla née Nejmark. His wife was Franciszka née Bernsztejn. Oberfeld was a graduate of the Governorate Junior High School in Płock and legal studies at the University of Warsaw. […]
In 1870, the successors of Ojzer Lewita bought from the Town Hall of Płock for 1000 rubles in silver a square bordering from the south with Misjonarska street, from the west with prison buildings, from the north and east with the garden and property of […]
Maurycy Fajans (1827-1897) – a merchant and industrialist, was the son of Herman, a merchant from Sieradz, and Leontyna nee Kon. His brother was a well-known Warsaw photographer and owner of a lithographic and photographic studio Maksymilian Fajans (1825-1890).
Maurycy Fajans was a representative of a Vistula river steamboat company in Włocławek, which belonged to Count Andrzej Zamoyski, then (from 1864) its director. In 1871, after the closing of the company, he purchased some ships, including the “Płock” steamboat. He was also the owner of the Steamboat Workshop in Solec. As we read in the article titled “Jubileusz żeglugi parowej na Wiśle” (“Vistula steamboat jubilee”) in “Tygodnik Ilustrowany” (No. 26 of 1908):
The new buyer had the luckiest hand of all current steamboat owners on the queen of our rivers. Introducing an effective administration, gradually increasing the number of ships, Fajans became wealthy very quickly. Thanks to his lucky hand, he also became the first to establish a successful steamboat business on the Vistula River. In 1884 Fajans continued the previously interrupted shipbuilding business in domestic factories, which he was the manager of. These workshops were improved in such a way that even military orders could be fulfilled. And finally, the first improved steamboats “Kraków” and “Wawel” were produced in the Fajans factory a few years ago, with covered cabins and electric lighting on board. It was a serious step forward in improving the aesthetics of existing steamboats on the Vistula.
Maurycy Fajans was also a business judge (since 1875), a member of the Warsaw Stock Exchange Committee (in the years 1888-1894) and a member of the board of the Warsaw Jewish community. He collaborated with the Płock merchant Ludwik Flatau in the field of grain trade. He was also a member of the Waterworks Construction Association in Płock (next to Zelewek Chessyn, Adolf Weisblatt, Krzysztof Doze and Gustaw Bergson), which was established in 1894, and co-owner of the real estate in Płock marked with mortgage number 515 on the bank of the Vistula.
Bibliography:
Przedpełski J., Stefański J., Żydzi płoccy w dziejach miasta, Płock, 2012
The mikvah, which existed even before the construction of the beautiful building, which is now the seat of the Art Gallery of Płock. The tenement house in which the Society for the Care of Jewish Children and the Shelter for Homeless Jewish Children was located. […]
Stefan Themerson was born on January 25, 1910 as the son of Chaim Mendel aka Mieczysław Themerson (1871-1930) – a medical doctor, writer and publicist, and Sara Liba aka Salomea nee Smulewicz. In 1928 he graduated from the Władysław Jagiełło State Junior High School in […]
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 eat meals, sometimes also sleep, to remind the shelters in which the Israelites stayed in the desert.
What did the sukkot look like in the space of the old, 19th century Płock? In the collection of the Files of the Town of Płock, kept at the State Archives in Płock, there is a design of an outbuilding, made by Zdzisław Zawodziński in 1871, for Abram Josek Lula from Pułtusk, a grain merchant and owner of a property located at 5 Józefa Kwiatka St. The project involved erecting a two-story building, covered with a single-pitched roof: at the ground floor level (with brick walls), this building was to house a woodshed and a cart storage, at the first floor level (with walls covered with oil-painted boards ) – a sukkah was placed. The document shows that the sukkah was a rectangular room with a usable area of 3.35m x 4.75m, 2.74m high (height with roof – 4.57m). A hallway led into the room inside of the sukkah. On the first floor there was also a small room, adjacent to the sukkah on the other side.
In addition to wooden structures, wealthy Jews also erected brick sukkot in their properties. Before 1872, the brick-built sukkah at Synagogalna Street (mortgage no. 39) was built by Szlama Kowalski, and in 1894 at the Old Market Square (mortgage no. 5) – by a well-known Płock merchant and social activist Izrael Kirsztejn (1828-1916).
In the collection of the Files of the Town of of Płock there were also numerous requests to the town authorities for permission to erect sukkot, which were supposed to be rather ephemeral objects – Jews were often obliged to dismantle them after the end of the holiday. In the year 1877 alone 171 such permits were issued. The most of the structures were erected in the heart of the Jewish district – at Szeroka Street, but also at Synagogalna, Niecała, Jerozolimska, Bielska and Więzienna Streets. In the town space, the sukkot could also be found at Dominikańska, Płońska, Mostowa, Misjonarska, Kolegialna, Grodzka, Królewiecka streets and the Old Market Square.
As sources indicate, for the duration of the Sukkot holiday not only were the huts erected in Płock, but also private prayer houses were opened (the Great and the Small Synagogue were able to accommodate a total of only about 1500 people at a time). In 1892, in connection with the approaching holiday, at the request of the Synagogue Supervision and Rabbi Juda Bejman, the Town Council of Płock agreed to open 19 temporary prayer houses, among others at Synagogalna Street at the Dancygier school (mortgage no. 34/5), at Zduńska Street at the seat of Talmud Torah (mortgage no. 107) and at Misjonarska Street at the Izaac Fogel Hospital.
The sukkot preserved in the current city space of Płock
4 Kościuszki Street
The sukkah is visible from Mostowa Street, it is adjacent to the rear wall of the two-story outbuilding, which was built after 1887. This wooden structure is located on the level of the first floor and supported by cast-iron buttresses. It was erected on a plan similar to a square, with a gabled roof covered with sheet metal. The first owner of the property was Jan Fryderyk Gottard Lehnardt, from 1865 – the Maltz family. The last, pre-war owners were Stanisław Tłuchowski and his wife Janina Sabina née Gutowski. There were several Catholic families and only one Jewish living in the property. It was the family of the merchant Tauchen Kapusta (1865-1894). In the interwar period, Moszek Zelman Kapusta (born in 1886) lived here with his wife Elka née Borensztejn and their children.
8 Grodzka Street
A unique, modernist style sukkah is located in the yard of the property at Grodzka 8 and can be seen from the side of Stanisława Małachowskiego Street. It adjoins the rear wall of a 19th century, two-story tenement house, intended for commercial and residential purposes, at the level of the first floor. Before the war, it was the property of Lewek Kilbert (1882-1942). In the interwar period, several Jewish families lived in the property, including the Budnik, Wolrat, Gelibter and Zylberberg families.
9 Tumska Street
The sukkah is located on the back wall of a neo-Gothic, two-storey building erected around 1840. It is located at the level of the first floor and supported by concrete pillars. The hut was built on a square-like plan, with a wooden structure, it is vaulted with a single-pitched roof covered with sheet metal. The sukkah has two small square windows in the gabled part of the front wall. Dawid Chaim Segał was the owner of the property at 9 Tumska street since 1871. In 1912, the property was purchased by Lajbuś and Tauba Smrodynia aka Kon. In the interwar period merchant Nuchim Kuczyński, teacher Dawid Jarząbek, trader Lejb Lajzer Bomzon and corsetist Brana Taubenfligel lived there, among others.
The next three objects resembling sukkot are located at 18 Kazimierza Wielkiego St. as well as at 52 and 53 Sienkiewicza St.
The lost sukkot
15 Grodzka Street
The property is located in the eastern part of the northern frontage of Grodzka Street. The owner of the property from 1838 was Abraham Marsap. In 1864, it was inherited by Dwora aka Dorota Hendelsman nee Marsap, who sold it in the same year to Icek Fogel. In 1866, Mirel Marsap née Pinkus, became the owner. Her heirs sold the property to Paulina Majeran, and she – in 1873 – to Lewin Zeman. In 1875 Bernard Lewin and Markus Grünbaum were the owners of the property in equal parts. In 1880 Michał Żołobow bought it. In the years 1920-1922 the property was inherited by Maria Żołobow, who then sold it to Emil Żółtowski. In 1935 it was purchased by Waleria and Szymon Buksowicz. The sukkah used to be located above the entrance gate, on the back wall of the tenement house, at the height of the second floor. Constructed on a rectangular plan, with a wooden structure, it had an elegant form and modest, geometric architectural details. It was probably built before 1880. A few years ago, it collapsed during the renovation of the building. It has not returned to its place until today.
The corner of Tumska and Królewiecka streets
Until recently, the most characteristic in the city space of Płock was the sukkah in the property located at the intersection of Tumska and Królewiecka streets. The first known owner of this property was Józef Liberman, after the death of whom it was inherited by Markus Liberman, Szaja Liberman, Hana Lichtensztajn nee Liberman and Bajla Liberman. In 1867, the property was purchased by Andrzej Kowalski. From 1878, it was owned by Izrael Lejb and Masza Fiszman. From 1912, its owner was Abram Fiszman, the owner of a mineral water factory. After his death, Sura Ryfka Galewska nee Fiszman, Jakub Józef Fiszman, Lejzor Fiszman, Szoel Fiszman, Fajga Estera Kiełbik née Fiszman and Itta Brucha Firstenberg née Fiszman inherited the property. The sukkah was located on the back wall of a two-storey front building of a service and residential purpose. It was constructed on a plan similar to a square, it was vaulted with a single-pitched roof covered with sheet metal. The walls of the hut originally had large glazing, and the windows were subtly divided by muntins. Based on preserved archival photographs, it can be seen that even at the beginning of the 1980s the technical condition of the sukkah was good. Over the decade, however, it slowly deteriorated, so that at the beginning of the 90s the city conservator of monuments recognized its condition as catastrophic, and the object itself eligible for demolition and reconstruction in accordance with the detailed inventory. At the beginning of 2017, the sukkah was acquired by the Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw, which, understanding the special historical value of this object as a material trace of the presence of the Jewish community in Płock and northern Mazovia, decided to subject it to conservation and make it part of the museum exhibition. Let’s hope that soon the reconstructed sukkah from Płock will find an appropriate place in the Polish capital.
Bibliography:
Nowak G., Z życia religijnego płockich Żydów – Święto Sukkot [in:] „Nasze Korzenie” no. 8, 2015, pp. 94-99
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, […]
