Budget of the Jewish community in Sokołów in 1822
Bathhouse fees - 200
funeral fees - 300
contributions to the moneybox in the synagogue and at the school during funerals [?] - 350
donations collected before Yom Kippur - 108
contributions from "parishioners" - 3420
total - 4378
In an excerpt from the Memorial Book that we translated this year, there is a chapter written by Pola Szwarc. Pola was the daughter of feldsher Aron Wąs, who tried to treat the poor and the suffering Jews in the ghetto. He spent some time in the camp in Szczeglacin. Before Yom Kippur 1942, he returned to Sokolow and with Pola and her husband Awrom Zajdenberg, they hid in a hiding place in the house where they lived.
"At night we left the hiding place and in the dark we went to Gródek, where a local nobleman employed Jews. Father spent a few days with us, but unable to sit still, he returned to my mother in Szczeglacin. After a month that camp too was liquidated. It was probably then that my parents were also shot" - writes Pola.
A Polish acquaintance sold Pola and her husband Aryan papers. Their names were now Janina Głowinska and Józek Korzedocki. They went to Warsaw. They worked in Bródno with a woman who had a sister in Sokołów.
Pola got pregnant. She gave birth to Aron. The owner of the apartment where they rented a room refused to let them stay there with the child. They went to Grodzisk, to the Wyborski family. "They caused us a lot of suffering, even though we paid them well" - recalls Pola. The house was frequented by friendly Ukrainians. One day, men claiming to be military police came to the house. Avrom said he did not know Pola. He saved her life and the child's life, but he himself was shot.
The landlady ordered Pola to leave. She didn't let her take her things. She only took diapers for Aron. Not knowing what to do with herself she traveled by train between Warsaw and Czestochowa. She was afraid that she would be recognized. So she went to a shelter for the homeless in Jerozolimskie Avenue. They didn't want the Jewish girl there either. The watchman advised her to give Aron to the orphanage in Nowogrodzka Street. She was to take him back when the war ended.
She worked in various places, as a Polish woman she went to work in Breslau, Germany. She was a maid in Cracow, a cleaning lady in Czestochowa. Many times she almost miraculously managed to get out of serious trouble.
After the war she married again. It turned out that Aron had been adopted by a couple living near Toruń. They gave the boy back after long negotiations and paying a high amount of money. The whole family then left for Israel.
In the photo there is me with Aron.
This year we also met online to commemorate the Jewish community of Sokołów. Fred told us about his book, Alter shared his family history, Amir spoke about the mass grave in Sokołów, and Orie spoke about education about the Holocaust.
Thank you for being here with us! Together, we preserve the memory of the Sokołów Jews.
"Once, the Germans entered the photo shop that belonged to my brother Mojsze [Wąs]. They searched there. Out of anger that they could not find anything - my brother had hidden his cameras in advance - they confiscated everything they thought was valuable". This is a fragment of Pola Szwarc's memories, which were included in the Sokołów Memorial Book, translated by Agata from Yiddish into Polish. Soon you will be able to read them at https://sokolow.jewish.pl/
In 1937, Moszko Wąs photographed the anti-Jewish riots in Sokołów. The photos he took then are the only ones that document those events.
After the liquidation of the Sokołów ghetto, Pola Szwarc was hiding with her husband, Abram Zajdenberg, in Warsaw and Grodzisk. In 1943, she gave birth to a son - Aaron. Soon her husband was killed by the gendarmes. She wandered around different cities with the baby, and finally gave him to a shelter for children. After the war, she bought him from his adoptive family and they left for Israel together.
The house in Sokołów shown in the photo is long gone.
It is a document from 1921. It is a permit for Mikołaj Grinberg, who lived in Sokołów at 41 Długa Street, to organize three "magical performances" - on March 28 in Sterdyń, on March 29 and 30 in Kosów.
May 1, 1933
The Evening Courses Society in Sokołów on the occasion of the May 1 holiday organized a meeting for its members at 12 noon. Zelik Lon spoke about the importance of the workers' holiday and Berek Flejszer about the persecution of Jews in Germany by Hitler's government. Both speakers are from Sokołów. About 50 people present.
Poalej-Sjon-Right in Sokołów organized a meeting in the town hall. Speeches were delivered by Ejnoch Zając, Perec Granatsztejn and Icek Międzyrzecki - they all spoke about the importance of the workers' holiday for the working masses, about the persecution of Jews in Germany by the Nazis, about the situation in Palestine and its rebuilding, about the raging crisis in the world and about the difficult living conditions of the Jewish population which is spread all over the world in the number of about 16 million heads. About 250 people were present at the event.
Yom haShoah in Israel, April 8. Commemoration of Sokolow Jewish community at the Holon cemetery.
It's a postcard sent from Sokolow in 1928 to the YIVO Institute in Vilnius. It's written in Yiddish but maybe anyone could let us know what it says?
If you speak Hebrew, here you can listen to a short broadcast about Poland and history.
A few years ago local authorities in Węgrów said that Polish-Jewish relations were great and we have to translate Memorial Book to prove that. But then they didn't. So I decided to do it.
You can se the result here (it's in Polish, but you can read it with Google Translate and there is one short chapter translated into English).
https://wegrow.jewish.pl/ksiega-pamieci/ksiega-pamieci-wegrowa/
If you want to help and support this project you can do it here: https://pomagam.pl/wegrow
I am a Holocaust survivor born in Baku, Azerbaijan, an immigrant at seven years old to America from parents who grew up in Sokolow. I have just completed my memoir, "The Story Keeper, Weaving the Threads of Time and Memory." The book relates the adversities my parents and I experienced while struggling to survive during WW2 across vast expanses of Soviet territory, to the uncertainties in displaced persons camps, and to the challengers faced arriving in America in 1949. The memoir spins a story that sounds like a novel rather than the factual history that it is.
The threads of the stories woven build a bridge, linking the past to the present, spanning generations, and spanning time. The book connects those who chose early to leave to safety and new lives to those who stayed behind, to some who left in the maelstrom of events and survived by fleeing far to the east, and to some who never left but, tragically, stayed behind.
The threads of the misfortunes of war and separation, of fleeing, of running, and never knowing whether there would be survival or a brighter future, blend with the single thread of hope that weaves all their lives together and presents a tapestry and mirror that reflects the stories of many immigrant survivors and displaced peoples today.
The book is on Amazon scheduled for release on January 27th, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The book has already received considerable praise.
Fred Feldman
Buy this book HERE.
