After the liberation of the Zawiechost ghetto, I stuck
close by this young rabbi Moishe, the son-in-law of Rabbi
Chaskiel, at the camp of Skarzysko. Our paths stayed the
same until April 1945. Upon our arrival at the camp in
Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia, Rabbi Moishe was so weak
that he couldn't step down from the rail car. We carried
him off on a stretcher. I drew near .... His half-closed
eyes seemed to be looking at me, but already he didn't
recognize me. He died 15 days before we were liberated.
Reb Shachne Fryd was one of Ozarow's notables, a
well-regarded dealer in construction lumber. He kept his
house, with its own SeferTorah, permanently available for
worship. The devout would gather there on Sabbath and on
holy days.
Reb Yossele
Mintz was only a blacksmith. Yet, he possessed all the
qualities which would have made him a worthy rabbi. He
devoted most of his time to study, while his wife managed
his business. The most religious Jews frequented his
prayer house. His son-in-law Nuta Halpern was the first
Ozarower to represent the interests of a cooperative bank.
There was
also a prayer house in the Adler enclave. The Sefer-Torah
went back to my great-grandfather Hillel and was handed
down from generation to generation. It had a place of
honour in the home of my grandfather Shloime, then in that
of my father Shmuel, the house of my birth.
When my
father died in 1921, the Torah went back to my
grandmother's house. Later the Torah found its way to Reb
Itche Weinberg, the oil presser, since his shop had more
room for worshippers.
The prayer
house of Hershel Niskier, the son of Meyer the Soldier,
began with the Sefer-Torah of his sister Raize!. All of
the faithful of the Tcherkaski-Hoif would gather in his
shoe repair store, which was set up for the occasion.
Raizel was well-regarded by all these devout people, as
well as by all the families of the lane that Shyale the
Shoemaker lived on.
The parents
of the children who attended the Yavne School organized
their own prayer house at Kopel Orenstein's. Practically
all of them belonged to the Mizrachi Zionist movement, or
were at least sympathizers.
To all of
these places of worship we have to of course add the Main
Synagogue of Ozarow where we celebrated the Sabbath and
all the services on holy days. On certain exceptional
occasions, such as that of the national ceremony of the
11th of November, special services were also
conducted there. In 1935, for example, on the occasion of
the death of Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, the Jewish community
of Ozarow gathered for a memorial service attended by a
delegation from the town administration led by Major
Adamski, Kabacinski, the town clerk, as well as the local
police chief.
* * *
We should note that in
Ozarow there were three important rabbis, a synagogue, a
temple and five prayer houses. The town also had another
religious characteristic: a wire went around the town. If
it remained intact, the town was like a citadel, which
would permit the religious Jews to carry about objects,
such as a talith, on the Sabbath. This cable was regularly
inspected.
Also see
"The
Ozarow Family Torah."
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