On May 13, 1886, Natan Graubart was born in Płock – he was the chairman of the Talmud-Torah religious school committee, a merchant, owner of a seed store and the president of the Cooperative Loan Bank in Płock. Natan Graubart was also the treasurer of […]
Chiel (Jechiel) Majer Bieżuński (born 1888 in Płock), teacher, son of Natan and Gitla nee Gombiner. He graduated from the provincial midle school in Płock, then continued private education in high school. He graduated from the Helena Kuczalska School of Swedish Gymnastics and Massage and […]
On October 15, 1821, Józef Jakub Kreyzler aka Josek Sokół and Gerszon Lewin Gradel aka Mintz concluded contracts for the perpetual lease of squares marked with numbers 68 (town square measuring 20 bars, with an annual rent of 1 złoty and 2 grosz) and 69 (town square measuring 20 bars, with an annual rent of 1 złoty and 2 grosz) with the Municipal Office of the Town of Płock. Before 1827, they erected a residential building on the square. It was a half-timbered house, with one upper floor, covered with tiles, 20 ells long, 12 ells wide, 6¼ ells high, located at the corner of Jerozolimska Street and Nowa Street, the internal layout of which was as follows: on the ground floor, entering from Jerozolimska Street, from the hall on the right and on the left hand, there were rooms, a shop with a room and a kitchen (a laborer, Marek Bromirz, who paid an annual rent of 126 złoty, and Lewek Abraham, who paid 180 złoty of an annual rent, lived here); There was a basement under this apartment where Michał Mięter lived, paying 90 złoty of an annual rent. On the first floor of the hall on the right there was a room and an alcove, which was occupied by Lewin Goldszyd. On the left hand of Nowa Street there was a room with a chamber, and in the attic there was one room with three storage places. There was no yard by the house.
Both Josek Sokół (ca. 1777–1844) and Gerszon Lewin Mintz (ca. 1769–1839) were tailors by profession.
On April 27 / May 9, 1835, the Municipal Office of the Town of Płock gave permission to Gerszon Lewin to sell the property at number 69 to his son Lewin Mintz. The contract was concluded on May 6/18, 1835.
As a result of the purchase and sale contract of June 1/13 and the regulation protocol of June 4/16, 1843, Chana Sura and Lewin Goldszyd, Szajna Chaja and Szulim Kurant and Abraham Szmul Sokół became the owners of the property marked with number 68.
Under the mortgage regulation protocol of June 4/16, 1843, separate mortgage books were established for real estate numbered 68 and 69.
Lewin Goldszyd and Szulim Kurant then purchased 1/3 of this property from Abraham Szmul Sokół for 1200 złoty under a purchase and sale contract of August 8/20, 1844. In the same year, Lewin Goldszyd and his wife, Chana Sura, gave their daughter Szaja Estera and her future husband, Symsza Szrejber, one store room from their property on the front of Jerozolimska Street, formerly owned by Alter Abraham, for a period of 12 years.
Under the contract of July 24/August 5, 1853, half of the real estate belonging to Szajna and Szulim Kurant was bought by Icek Karasek (born 1819; son of Mordka and Liba Karasek) for the amount of 3600 złoty. Icek Karasek then purchased half of the real estate with two store rooms from Chana Sura nee Sokoł and Lewin Golszyd for 9350 złoty under a purchase and sale contract of September 25/October 7, 1853. On February 11/23, 1854, Karasek bought property number 69 from Lewin Gerszon Mintz.
In 1857, Icek Karasek demolished the old buildings that were in danger of collapsing, and in 1860 he erected a new brick house. It was a residential house, made of lime-burnt brick, with a ground floor and two floors, with basements under half of the house, covered with tiles, 54 Russian feet long, 34 feet wide, 36 feet high. The value of the buildings, including the square, was estimated at 83 898 złoty and 22 grosz.
The location of the building at the corner of Szeroka and Jerozolimska Streets allowed for the design of two frontages, while the frontage from Jerozolimska Street took over the main function. The semicircular arcades of the ground floor openings and the first floor enriched with triangular pediments are characteristic of this building, known today as the Rabbi’s House.
In his house on the corner of Jerozolimska and Szeroka Streets, Icek Karasek ran a company – a store selling iron and agricultural tools (he was granted the iron trade permit on October 12/24, 1843), in which, according to an advertisement in the “Płock Calendar for a Leap Year 1876” , one could purchase, among others, threshers and manages from various domestic and foreign factories, chaff cutters, grinders and choppers, Boston winnowing machines, Prussian scratchers, Września plows, Czech harrows and extirpators.
Under the protocol of August 7/19, 1861, real estate no. 68 and 69 were merged into one mortgage book. In 1885 the property was purchased by Ewa Irina Stefania Fijałkowska for 4815 rubles.
The next owner was the trader Ber Taub (born 1860), son of the trader Izrael Icek and Nycha Fajga, who bought it for the sum of 4900 rubles under the contract of April 25 / May 7, 1897. The property was bought from Taub by Majer and Chasza Frenkiel for 41 000 marks and 5 000 rubles under a purchase and sale contract of July 18, 1919.
In 1931, 29 people lived at 25 Szeroka Street. They resided in eight apartments together with their families: Gołda Nordenberg, Pinkus Zylber, Ruda Brana Rogonowicz, Ber Taub, Szajndla Bursztyn, Jakób Nagiel, Majer Frenkiel, Ruchla Szeraszew, Zelman Libson, Stanisław Ciesielski and Wiktor Modelski.
Before the war, at 25 Szeroka Street, registered were the companies of Dawid Jesion – confectionery trade, Ber Ciechanowski – shoe shop, Jakub Płockier – hat maker’s workshop, Pinkus Zylber – trade in fabrics, Mordka Moszkowicz – clothes shop and Icek Kronenberg – haberdashery shop.
Bibliography: Nowak-Dąbrowska G., Okno na Kwiatka. Ulica Józefa Kwiatka w Płocku od początku XIX wieku do 1939 roku – ludzie i zabudowa, Płock 2019
I was interested in my family history only since a distant cousin from a different part of the family gave me a scruffy, rolled up paper family tree that was a bit out of date. I was a side entry on that tree. But there […]
Chaja Sura (Ilana) Szlachter was born on August 29, 1918. Polish and Yiddish were spoken in her family home. Her mother, Estera, came from a village located 20 kilometers from Płock. She was a beautiful woman with jet black hair and almond eyes – she […]
Hanka Borensztejn was born on May 11, 1920 in Płock. Her father – Kos Borensztejn, son of Chaim Mortka and Nechama nee Koral, came from Płońsk. Hanka’s mother’s name was Estera – she was the daughter of Dawid Tewel Cylich and his wife Sura. After her death in 1928, Kos Borensztejn remarried Estera Ruchla Głogowska née Minc (in 1931). Hanka belonged to the Zionist youth organization Akiba. Before the war, she worked as a clerk. During the occupation, she dealt with food smuggling.
Hanka Borensztejn:
In the summer of 1939, everyone was talking about the inevitable war. People were supplied with gas masks, food products, the horrible situation of German Jews was remembered, but no one, absolutely no one could foresee the terrible consequences of the Second World War, or the pointless, inhuman extermination of over three million European Jews. In Płock this summer, the atmosphere was depressing. No one knew what to do, and as soon as the radio brought the unfortunate news of the German attack, the waves of people flooded the roads and paths in various directions just to escape. Where? To whom? The first German soldiers entered a half-deserted city. Seemingly, nothing drastic was visible and the fugitives slowly began to return, bringing news about the first victims of the unfortunate journey. Then I heard about a rain of bullets from plane guns hitting defenseless citizens on open roads, demolished houses which buried people alive, and in the general chaos many tragedies arose only to be soon forgotten in the face of the greater and more terrible ones that followed.
Kos Borenstein lived in New Market Square, he had a store of textile goods. When the war broke out, he was elderly, he did not want to leave the apartment and he did not get carried away by general hysteria. His attitude also prevented Hanka from aimless wandering. Hanka’s two older sisters (both nurses), Stefa and Róża, and brother Wolf were in Warsaw. After some time, Hanka found out that the Germans gave passes to leave the city. She stood in a long line waiting for the longed-awaited pass. Upon hearing her name, the clerk immediately refused – Jews were not allowed to travel. It was her first encounter with the Germans. It was then that she learned that she must not show the outside world that she was Jewish. Normal communication with Warsaw was interrupted. The bridge was damaged, ship and bus services did not run. Worries about her siblings did not allow Hanka to have inner peace. One day she went out to the market square and saw a young farmer. She asked if he would take her and his friend (Fela Wolrat) to Warsaw for a good price. The boy agreed, she took some food, sacks of bread and left. In Warsaw, the coachman pulled up to one of the courtyards, he did not want to continue his journey around the city in search of Hanka’s relatives. However, her entrepreneurship did not give up – she found a vegetable trolley on two wheels, converted it into a rickshaw, and so she went to Zielna Street, where she found her sisters.
Hanka Borensztejn:
An unexpected situation has occurred that has pushed me on a new path of trade and wartime smuggling. The bread for which I paid 20 grosz in Płock was eagerly bought by people for 5 zlotys, as well as sugar, flour and other products. Having collected some money, I returned to Płock in order to immediately return with a much larger reserve.
During winter, she was still travelling between Płock and Warsaw. When one of the transports with flour and sugar was stopped and confiscated by German military policemen, Hanka managed to save herself for a piece of butter and returned to Warsaw. She stayed with her Polish friends, two sisters who lived in Płock before the war. She continued smuggling with Hania and Stasia and their father. When she moved to a girls’ boarding school with her sisters, she decided to bring personal belongings from home.
Hanka Borensztejn:
Ships were already in operation then, but the ticket could be obtained upon presentation of a personal ID. I did not have any proof of identification, so I only hoped that Hania would get a ticket for me as well. In the meantime, when I was alone in the cabin, a German search was carried out and IDs were requested. Of course, I couldn’t show anything, so I was taken to the Gestapo, which was located in the building of the Rościszewska Middle School. I only took a suitcase with personal belongings, or rather the soldier took it. As I entered the room, a terrible sight of the so-called German justice passed before my eyes. A spacious room filled with civilians, a desk in the center, a Gestapo officer with riding crop and a translator. People with raised hands faced the wall and were summoned to turn around to the desk for questioning. When a Gestapo officer noticed me and asked what I was doing here, I made an innocent face and replied with the same question – I want to know why I was brought here. This baffled him, he handed me a chair and told me to wait for his colleague who had arrested me. After a few moments, I was called to the other room. There was a translator, a Gestapo officer and… my open suitcase full of clothes and books in French, English, German and Latin. The questions began to fall short and quick – a strange calmness seized me, and my mind worked with refined precision. Name, age, address, profession, parents – everything came out of my mouth calmly, logically and without much thinking. The Gestapo man was throwing around the room like a wild animal, he didn’t want to believe me, but my cold calmness finally convinced him. I found out from the translator that I am accused of espionage (my books), but I am lucky and will get a pass to my place of residence. And so it happened. It was with great relief that I gathered my belongings and left as quickly as possible, I was also happy to receive such an important pass. This time I decided to go by train, and in my naivety I could not foresee how many more worries this pass would bring me. There was a border in Kutno and a second ticket had to be bought. They did not want to sell me a ticket, and when, after long discussions and efforts, I finally obtained it, I had to get off the train anyway, because the Germans performing a search did not want to recognize the validity of the Gestapo pass. Ironically – this time a pass issued by the mayor was requested. In despair, I stood in front of the train and began to wonder what to do next. At that moment, a German officer came and, having learned about my adventure, he ordered me to get back on the train as soon as the search ended. I did so and I made it to Warsaw without any further adventures…
Hanka Borensztejn survived World War II thanks to Aryan papers.
(Hanka Borensztejn’s memoirs in the collection of Yad Vashem)
. . .
“Broken life. The fate of women of Płock during World War II and the Holocaust” is a series of texts on JewishPlock.eu, in which, between 22 February and 1 March 2022, we will recall the stories of Jewish women associated with Płock – those who were born in our city, but also those who lived or stayed here for a certain period of time. Courageous, persistent, wise, strong and caring. Women who fought for the survival of themselves and their families. They looked after children, orphans and the elderly, gained food, aided the wounded, and engaged in military struggle. They worked beyond their strength in Nazi forced labor camps. We will present the profiles and memories of women who survived the Holocaust. We will also commemorate the women of Płock who perished in extermination camps. Sometimes the only remaining trace of them today is a single entry in archival documents…
The project is implemented by the Nobiscum Foundation as part of the 81st anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto in Płock.
Jochewet (Jadwiga) Graubart was born in 1918, she was the daughter of Abram Nusen aka Natan and Chaja née Landau. Her family was one of the most respected and well-known Jewish families in Płock. Natan Graubart was a grain merchant, the owner of a seed […]
Mira (Kazimiera) Mariensztras (Mariańska) was born in 1902 in Vilnius as the daughter of Matylda and Otton Butkiewicz. Her mother was a wealthy person, she had her own train station, and she exported timber from Lithuania. Mira was a pianist by education – she graduated […]
Ewa Guterman was born in 1908 to the family of Jakub Alterowicz and Necha née Tyszman. She had several siblings: brothers Pinkus, Icek Szlama, Mojżesz, Eliasz and sister Czarna. Ewa made a living by tailoring, which she learned at the “ORT” courses in Warsaw. In 1933, she married Symcha Guterman (1903-1944), who, after serving in the infantry of the Polish Army, ran a knitting workshop in Płock. He was also one of the co-founders of the Płock branch of the Frajhajt organization, to which Ewa also belonged. In 1935 their son Jakub was born – their only child to whom they showed great love. Ewa with her husband and son lived in a one-story house at the end of Sienkiewicza Street, right next to the theological seminary.
After the ghetto was created in Płock, Ewa, together with her husband and son, were displaced to a cramped flat on the third floor of a tenement house on Szeroka Street, which at that time was called Breite Strasse. She was deported on March 1, 1941, the last day of the liquidation of the Płock ghetto: on that day, she dressed her son in several layers of underwear and clothes, covered him with a down duvet, took him in her arms and walked down the steep stairs to the cobbled street, where the Germans were gathering Jews from Płock: crammed within the crowd, chased by SS men and pushed with rifles, they were loaded onto a military truck and sent to the concentration camp in Działdowo. After a few days, they were driven into wagons and sent south-east to the General Government, then to various places near Kielce.
Ewa and Symcha with Jakub managed to find shelter in Ostrowiec, where a Pole, Stanisław Szcześniak, offered them some residential space. Not only did he make friends with the two inhabitants of Płock, but he also obtained a copy of the birth certificate of his cousin, Władysława Duda, so that Ewa could officially get a Kennkarte on its basis. Documents were also made for Symcha, who took the surname Pawłowski, and for Jakub, who became Stanisław Duda. Shortly before the liquidation of the ghetto in Ostrowiec, the Gutermans moved to the suburbs, to a neighborhood of small houses, separated from the city by marshes. Then a misfortune happened to them – Ewa lost her Kennkarte. For several days, from dawn to dusk, she walked in the nearby swamps in despair, trying to find the lost document. Luckily, the document was found and returned to its owner.
During World War II, the Gutermans also stayed in Żyrardów, where Ewa undertook the dangerous task of earning money – she smuggled food. She was a tough and resourceful person, but also a beautiful woman of Aryan type of beauty, who spoke Polish perfectly, and thus did not arouse any suspicions. She was driven by her will to live and, above all, by a great love for her only son – together with her husband, she was constantly struggling to save his life.
In 1943, the Gutermans found themselves in Warsaw. However, they did not live together, Symcha worked in the knitting workshop of the Mariavite sisters, they were seeing each other from time to time. Ewa and Jakub lived on the fourth floor of a tenement house on Żelazna Street.
One day, at the intersection of two streets in the center of Warsaw, a young, drunk man accosted her. In a hoarse voice, he announced that she was a “lousy Jew” and demanded money. Instinctively, she turned to a policeman standing nearby. She explained that she had been attacked and insulted, and stated that it was worth checking if the man was an escaped Jew. The policeman took them to the police station. After some time, she heard the long-awaited words: “You are free to go, lady.”
Together with her husband, she decided to place Jakub with the family of one of the Mariavite sisters in the village of Wygoda near Łowicz. The boy worked until the end of the war as a cowherd in the nearby village of Zawady.
During the Warsaw Uprising, Ewa was hiding with other residents of the tenement house on Żelazna Street in the basement. The building was completely destroyed as a result of the bombing, except for the deep cellars. Every day someone would sneak out of the hideout to find something to eat among the ruined houses. From one of such trips, Ewa kept a surprise for her son – a bottle of apple wine.
The next meeting with Ewa is touchingly described by her son Jakub in the preface to the book “Leaves from Fire”:
“One day at sunset, I was walking home after work. I was dressed in a rough linen shirt and torn pants. I walked barefoot on prickly stubble, drove slow, fat cows, and sang loudly. Suddenly, on the other side of the river, I noticed a woman. She was dressed like a townswoman in a gray suit. She was sitting in the deep grass, her back to me. My heart began to beat harder and faster. As I approached the woman, I could clearly see her back trembling. It was my mom. I threw myself into her arms and we cried together. I couldn’t utter a word… ”.
Ewa stayed with her son in the countryside until the spring of 1945. She then returned to Płock, where she married Szlomo Chaim Grzebień (Symcha Guterman died in the Warsaw Uprising on August 1, 1944). In the years 1945-1949 she was a member of the board of the Jewish Committee in Płock. In 1950, she emigrated with her husband and son to Israel. She died on October 25, 1957 in Kiryat Motzkin.
(text based on the book “Leaves from Fire” by Symcha Guterman)
. . .
“Broken life. The fate of women of Płock during World War II and the Holocaust” is a series of texts on JewishPlock.eu, in which, between 22 February and 1 March 2022, we will recall the stories of Jewish women associated with Płock – those who were born in our city, but also those who lived or stayed here for a certain period of time. Courageous, persistent, wise, strong and caring. Women who fought for the survival of themselves and their families. They looked after children, orphans and the elderly, gained food, aided the wounded, and engaged in military struggle. They worked beyond their strength in Nazi forced labor camps. We will present the profiles and memories of women who survived the Holocaust. We will also commemorate the women of Płock who perished in extermination camps. Sometimes the only remaining trace of them today is a single entry in archival documents…
The project is implemented by the Nobiscum Foundation as part of the 81st anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto in Płock.
Eda (Estera) Zylbersztajn was born in 1916 in Warsaw, as the daughter of Jakub and Frajda nee Najman. Her father came from Lublin, he was a carpenter. Frajda, the daughter of Abram and Pesia, was born in Śniatyń. Eda had four siblings: brothers Ajzyk (Adek) […]
