letters/szczuczyn/03

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   LETTERS
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   SZCZUCZYN

Introduction

The Town of Szczuczyn | Between the Wars | From Szczuczyn to Shepparton

From Szczuczyn to Shepparton: Australia's Kaymans

The letters you are about to read were sent from a shtetl called Szczuczyn, near Lomza in Poland. They date from June 1937 until April 1941, and were mostly written by Wolf (Zev) Kayman and sent to his eldest son, Eliezer (Lozer//Leslie) Kayman. The letters follow Eliezer and his family as they leave their home, friends and family in Szczuczyn and migrate to Shepparton, Australia in hope of a better future. They tell of the lives they left behind and the anguish of those still there.

Zelda Rozental and Eliezer Kayman,
Szczuczyn, Poland, 1930
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In 1931, when he was thirty-one years old, Eliezer married twenty-six year old Zelda (nee Rozental) and they had two sons: Norman (Nechemia) born in 1932 and Maurice (Moshe) born in 1936. When the two boys were still very young, Eliezer found that it was becoming impossible to make a living as a grain agent in Poland and he was particularly hindered and bothered by anti-Jewish laws that allowed non-Jews to renege on any debts to Jews. He had an aunt and uncle (Feiga nee Kayman and Nachum Rosenbaum) who owned an orchard in Shepparton, Australia so he wrote to them of his plight and later corresponded with their children. The Rosenbaum children agreed to help their cousin Eliezer and his family migrate to Australia by sponsoring them.

Nachum (Nechemia) and Feiga Rosenbaum,
Melbourne, Australia, cir 1930s.
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