A FIREBRAND PLUCKED OUT OF
THE CONFLAGRATION
From the Zambrów Yizkor Book (abridged English version),
1963
Courtesy
of the United Zembrower Society
(Recorded by Mr. Yerushalmi,
his informant being
Moses, the son of
Berl Lewinski)
I was not in an easy mood when
I went to interview my relative and friend Moshe, the son of Berl
Lewinski of the well-known
Kusharer family, and
to set forth the rather sad recollections bearing on the tragic
martyrology of Zambrów Jewry during the Nazi Holocaust.
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Moshe was born in Zambrów in
1897. Up to the outbreak of World War II he been a merchant on
friendly business
terms with the gentile peasants living in the neighborhood. He had
gone through all the vicissitudes of the Nazi Hell until he
reached Eretz Israel where he lives at present. The following is
his story: About a month after the outbreak of the war against
Poland, the Germans invaded Zambrów. Violent air raids were raging
prior to this invasion, as a result of which more than half of the
Zambrów houses were destroyed and burned, especially the Jewish
houses suffered much from German air raids.
photo: Moshe Lewinski |
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The Nazis stayed in Zambrów for
ten days only. In conformity with the German-Soviet agreement, the
Nazis left that territory soon and the Russians entered there.
During that short period,
however, the Nazis were able to steal and rob the town of all its
valuable things. The Russians entered Zambrów in September 1939.
Their first act was the appointment of Fishman (Kaufmann's
son-in-law) as Commissar of Zambrów. All the shops were still
closed (since the Nazi invasion). The Russians organized
cooperative shops. All the mills were confiscated or nationalized.
People got work in the Russian cooperative and Governmental
institutions. Some people engaged in commerce illegally. Many
young Jews were mobilized for Soviet military work. The regime was
like that prevailing in the USSR: many people suspected of
belonging to the rich Bourgeois were arrested, and their families
were deported to Siberia. Among the exiles there were Sarah
Sukharevitch, Rachel Rubin and her children, the Schuster family
etc
The real immolation and tragic
holocaust
started in July 1941, when the Germans invaded Zambrów again
(after the outbreak of the Nazi-Soviet war in 1941). The Nazis
started confiscating all Jewish property, kidnapping people for
compulsory labor and perpetrating other nefarious acts. They
employed various tricks in order to create the impression that the
deportation of Jews was meant for labor purposes only. The first
quota of thirty Jews taken to Tscherwony Boor was returned
to Zambrów on the same day. The next day the Nazis took ninety
people, including some old men like Toviah Skotchinadek. These
were not sent back to Zambrów, but were killed in a tragic
barbarous manner. Within a few days other Gestapo selected eight
hundred Jews (including the venerable Rabbi of Zambrów) and
deported them to Shumovo where they were murdered. After the
elapse of a month many people were ordered to assemble on the
Rynek (Market). Here the Nazis arranged two types of people, those
up to the age of sixty, and those above that age, in order to
create the impression that the transports are meant for labor. All
the people were led to Rutki-Kossaki,
where a deep pit or cave was
dug, and all the people were murdered and placed in the pit.
After these tragic events the
remainder
of Zambrów Jews collected all their property and money and handed
them over to the Lomzha Gestapo who promised to create a Ghetto
for Zambrów Jews. The Ghetto was erected and it embraced the two
streets: Yatkowa and Shviente-Krzyska up to the river. About two
thousand Jews moved into the Ghetto which was overcrowded. In each
flat there were about three families. Restrictions were imposed on
various articles of food, such as white flour, meat etc. Gliksman,
the Head of the Ghetto, endeavored to keep these restrictions put.
The people struggled with him, continuing to import the restricted
food articles into the Ghetto. Some Jews worked on the roads,
others engaged in masonry, in stone work, building bridges,
erecting buildings and big barracks. Every Jew was forced to wear
the "yellow badge" on the breast. In November 1941 many Jews were
transferred to the Barracks, where about fourteen thousand Jews
from many places (such as Lomzha, Tchervony Boor, Zambrów, Shumovo,
Visoki-Mazovietsk, Yablonki, Rutki-Kossaki) were concentrated.
Here life conditions were terrible. Since January 1943 the Nazis
started transporting people to Auschwitz,
about two thousand people each night (first to Tchizhev and thence
to Auschwitz), Many tried to escape, but were shot. Few succeeding
in escaping.
The informant, i.e. Moshe
Lewinski, was one of the few who were lucky enough to find shelter
(after undergoing many hardships, evil days, suffering and tragic
vicissitudes) in an underground cavern covered with piles of grass
and herbage. He describes in detail all his dramatic experiences
until he
was freed from all pain and suffering by the Russians (when
Zambrów was liberated). He found his native Zambrów devastated,
without any inhabitants. Then he left for Lodz where other Jewish
refugees concentrated. Later he went to Israel where he [now]
lives. He has not forgotten
his gentile benefactor who helped him to survive the Nazi
Holocaust. The deep moral wounds which the Nazi murderers have
inflicted upon him have not been healed and will never be cured
....
