Golda Ryba

 Golda Lenczner (Ryba) was born in 1931. She was raised by her mother Gela, grandmother and grandfather. Her father, Hersh, went to South America before the war. The family was supposed to join him, but the war broke out and they couldn't get out of Poland.

During the liquidation of the ghetto, Golda was pushed by her mother out of the window of the building where the Germans had gathered the Jews. The girl wandered around the surrounding villages pretending to be Polish. She survived the war. Her mother, grandparents and younger sister Sara were murdered in Treblinka.

When Golda returned to Sokołów after the war, she thought she was the only Jewish survivor. She felt strange here. Eventually she emigrated to Israel. Do you know any relatives of Golda Ryba (maiden name Lenczner)? If so, please let me know.

A Book by Marie-Hélène Blonde

 Marie-Hélène Blonde just published her book in French "UNE ODYSSÉE FAMILIALE. DE STERDYN À PARIS…"

When, in September 1939, they crossed the Bug with four of their children to escape the arrival of the Nazis, Mordko and Ruchla could not imagine the travel that awaited them. The following years saw them successively in Russian-occupied Poland, in a camp in the far Soviet north and in a kolkhoz near the Volga. The end of the war is not yet the end of the peregrinations. After a brief return to Poland, it was the departure towards the west, the camps for displaced persons and finally the arrival in Paris in April 1947. A new life began...

The story is based on the testimonies of the last participants of the trip supplemented by archival documents which are gradually becoming available.

https://www.bookelis.com/biographies/59694-Une-odyssee-familiale.html#/22-type_livre-papier

1919 elections

 In 1919, in the elections to the Sejm, the inhabitants of Sokołów voted mainly for the National Group. Among the Jewish parties, the Jewish National Electoral Committee enjoyed the greatest support, followed by the Orthodox Union.

The table below shows: the city of Siedlce, Siedlce county, Sokołów county and Węgrów county.

Table columns: number of electoral districts, valid votes, invalid votes, 1. National Group, 2. Polish People's Party, 3. Democratic Party, 4. Bund, 5. Jewish People's Party, 6. Ortodox Union, 7. Jewish National Electoral Committee , 8. Poale Zion, 9. National Workers' Union, 10. Polish Socialist Party.

"In the shadow of Treblinka"

 For those of you who read Polish. Simche Polakiewicz's book "In the shadow of Treblinka" has just been published. Inside there are two of his books: "In the shadow of Treblinka" and "A Day in Treblinka" translated from Yiddish into Polish. This is a very important testimony. Highly recommended!

Details: https://austeria.pl/produkt/sokolow/

Szafran's mill

 Szaja Szafran's mill and power plant were located here in this place. In June 1931, the mill workers went on strike. They demanded a raise and an eight-hour work day. After 16 days, Szafran agreed to their demands.

When another strike broke out in 1933, Szafran refused to agree to a raise. So he hired Polish workers to replace the striking Jews.

Yom HaShoah 2023

 Yesterday, on Yom HaShoah, at the Holon cemetery.

Thank you Moshe!

Before Yom HaShoah

 Before Yom HaShoah and the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, we remember the victims of the Sokołów Ghetto. The deaths of mothers who voluntarily went to the gas chambers with their children to make them less afraid is no less heroic than the deaths of the ghetto fighters. They are all heroes and we will remember them all.

The photo was taken by a German soldier in the ghetto in Sokołów, it comes from the collection of Łukasz Biedka.