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 […]
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 1926), Roma (born 1927), Mejer (Marek) (born 1929) and Ida (born 1929). Icek was named after his uncle who died during the Russian-Japanese war. The Nierób family lived at Kwiatka Street (formerly Szeroka Street) at number 26. Abraham Nierób supported his family by working as a tailor. Icek attended a public school for Jewish children. He loved sport, especially football. In 1937, his mother died, and the following year Abraham married Estera née Luszyńska, who came from Gąbin.
After the outbreak of World War II, Icek’s family escaped to his stepmother’s hometown. After a month they returned to Płock. On March 1, 1941, they were deported to Działdowo, then to Bodzentyn. In the summer of 1941 Icek was transported to the forced labor camp in Skarżysko-Kamienna. After the camp liquidation in the summer of 1944, Icek was sent to the labor camp in Sulejów. At the end of December 1944 he was transferred to Częstochowa. On January 17, 1945, together with a group of prisoners, he was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. After the liberation of the camp, Icek went to Weimar, then to Frankfurt. His whole family died in Treblinka.
In the spring of 1949, Icek Nierób emigrated to the United States. In the early 1950s he settled in Los Angeles. Here he met Henrietta (Kate) Hirshfield, whom he married in 1954. Kate was a widow and had a daughter Doris, born in 1950, whom Icek adopted. In 1956 their daughter Renee was born, and a year later their son Alan. In 1959, Icek (then Jack) opened his own company, Jack Nierob Plumbing. He was the author of memories that were published under the title “A Lucky Man”.
Icek Nierób died on March 8, 2020.
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 […]
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 rent of 10 PLN. On this square, before 1827, he erected a brick house with one floor and a basement, covered with Dutch tiles. After his death, the property was inherited by his son Chaskiel Szenwic (1817-1889). By virtue of an official will of October 18/30, 1864, and following a request of September 20 / October 2, 1867 and 7/19 January 1870, he was registered as its owner. Before 1871, Chaskiel Szenwic erected a new brick front house: partly half-timbered, tiled, with two stories and a residential attic.
Since 1880, at the Chaskiel Szenwic house operated the Optician and Jewelery Company of Moritz Szenwic, who advertised it in the pages of “Korespondent Płocki”:
I hereby inform the Dear Audience that since January 1 this year. I have set up a repair workshop for watches, where I perform all repairs very quickly, at very affordable prices, and I have various new wall clocks to sell. I perform optical and all jewelery works 25% cheaper than larger jewelry workshops in Płock…
The next owner of the property was Tauba Itta Szenwic née Borensztejn, who purchased it from Chaskiel Szenwic for the amount of 12,000 rubles and by virtue of the act of September 29 / October 11, 1882 and the application of April 29, 1891 was registered as its owner. Tauba Itta, daughter of Hersz and Sura née Zdugman, was the daughter-in-law of Chaskiel Szenwic, wife of his son Manchajm (born in 1845) – a trader, owner of coal and wood store. At the beginning of 1893, Manchajm Szenwic opened a cooling drink manufacture at Szeroka Street.
In 1907, Manchajm and Tauba Itta Szenwic née Borensztejn bought a neighboring property at Tumska Street, mortgage number 258, for the sum of 598 rubles and 75 kopecks.
In 1909, at 1 Szeroka Street, the Russian authorities legalized the Bieker Chajlim Jewish Funeral Association, the founders of which were Jakub Szenwic, Izydor Wasserman, Chaskiel Perelgryc, Abram Fiszman, Manchajm Szenwic, Mordka Dancygier and Kalman Frenkiel.
After the death of Tauba Itta Szenwic, half of the property was acquired by Manchajm Szenwic, by virtue of pre-marriage intercourse of July 29, 1873, and the other half, in equal parts, became the property of Pessa Pelagia née Szenwice Rajcher (b. 1876), Ryfka Regina née Szenwice Wolman (b. 1886), Sura Stefania Szenwic (born in 1896), Hersz Herman Szenwic (born in 1877), Lejzor Eleazar vel Ludwik Louis Szenwic (born in 1888), Icek Izaak Jerzy Szenwic (born in 1879) and Chaja Fajga Helena Szenwic (born in 1881). The above-mentioned were registered as its owners pursuant to the protocol of closing the inheritance proceedings of October 8, 1920 and the application of May 27, 1921.
The property of the Szenwic family, including the property at Tumska St., was later purchased by Jan Trojanowski for the amount of 7,000,000 marks and, pursuant to the act of 16 August and the application of 17 August 1921, he was registered as its owner.
The list of sign boards prepared for 1929 lists 10 companies at 1 Szeroka Street: “Bar Europejski”, haberdashery shop of Stanisław Ciesielski, seed shop of Natan Graubard, the Schicht company, haberdashery shop of B. Rozental, clothes shop of L. Lichtman, engraving factory of L. Ejchelt, “Czesława” haberdashery company, haberdashery shop of J. Zelkowicz and smoked meat store of Jan Trojanowski, the property owner. According to data from 1937, this address included Jakub Purzycki’s hairdresser business, Konstanty Kowalewski’s restaurant and Chaskiel Kohn’s bookbinding workshop.
According to data from 1931, 76 people lived at 1 Szeroka Street. In the outbuilding, in which there were 6 apartments, the following people lived together with their families: Zofia Dybicz, Ludwika Dydecka, Jan Trojanowski, Hugon Gross, Blima Gruszka, Juda Głowiński, Moszek Magnes and Adam Kowalski; in the front house with 10 apartments: Sender Chmiel, Konstanty Kowalewski, Izrael Klinger, Pessa Krasiewicz, Henryk Siedliński, Luzer Lichtman, Chaim Kon, Lejzer Kugel, Pinkus Neuman, Paulin Więcławski and Izrael Finkelsztejn.
At the end of August 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, 25 families lived at this address, including the family of Izrael Klinger, Juda Tyber, Luzer Lichtman, Chilel Kon, Luzer Kugel, Lejb Gruszka, Abram Cymbler, Izrael Kwiat, Szmul Kiper and Chaskiel Kon.
The property at 1 Kwiatka Street still belongs to the descendants of Jan Trojanowski.
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 […]
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 […]
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. Members of his family in Płock were involved in various arts and crafts, and little Natan loved to watch the work of his uncles who were goldsmiths. His grandfather and father had a workshop producing copper items, including those used in Jewish rituals. In order to take formal education in the field of art, Natan left his family home and went to Warsaw. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts under the supervision of professors Stanisław Lentz and Tadeusz Pruszkowski. Still as a student, Korzeń exhibited his works in a Jewish gallery in Warsaw. After graduating, he quickly became one of the best portraitists in Poland. Many notable people employed him for portraits. He was also associated with the Theater School in Warsaw operating since 1929, where he lectured on art history. In addition to portraits, he also painted landscapes and whenever he visited Płock, he left the town in order to paint rural landscapes near it. According to art critic Yehiel Aronson, Korzeń was not influenced by the school of surreal post-impressionism because he had the talent to convey his own longings to the canvas in a realistic way. Korzeń had its own painting workshops in Warsaw and Kazimierz nad Wisłą. His works were exhibited, among other places, in Paris and Warsaw. He had two individual exhibitions in Płock and took part in several group exhibitions. In February 1932, at the exhibition in the Hotel Polski in Płock at 9 Tumska Street, the Art Club of Płock opened the 1st Płock Art Exhibition, which showed two oil works by Korzeń – ‘Portrait of a Boy’ and ‘Houses in Kazimierz’.
During the outbreak of the war, Natan Korzeń settled in Vilnius, because he thought that from there it would be easier for him to escape to the West. In Vilnius, he worked as a stage designer at the Jewish National Theater. His hopes for escape proved to be deceptive, as he ended up in the ghetto, where he took an active part in the cultural life of the Jews living there. The Nazis burned most of his paintings. He was murdered in 1941, probably in Ponary near Vilnius.
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 […]
