Remember Jewish Pulawy

Pronunciation: Poo-lav-ee

HISTORY OF JEWISH PULAWY

Pulawy is 30 miles north and west of Lublin, the largest city in eastern Poland.

There was an organized Jewish community in Pulawy from 1820. In 1897, it numbered 3,883 (about 73% of the population). The principal Jewish occupations were shoemaking, gardening, furniture-making and shop-keeping. From the middle of the 19th century, the influence of Chasidism became widespread among the Jews of Pulawy. From 1875 to 1884 the rabbinical seat of Pulawy was held by Elijah Lerman, the author of Devar Eliyahu (1884). In 1888, Chaim Israel Morgenstern, the grandson of Menachem Mendel of Kotsk, founded a Hasidic court in Pulawy.

In 1910 there were 6,111 Jews (61% of the population). During World War I, the Jewish population of the town decreased due to persecutions and a fire. In 1921 there were 3,221 Jews (45% of the population) living in the town.

COMMERCE

A listing of Jewish workers in the town is available here. The Puławy Shipping Society operated in Puławy during the interwar period. It was owned by another enterprise—Bracia Ejdelman i Spółka. It conducted shipping operations on the Vistula River, along the Sandomierz–Puławy–Warsaw route. Its fleet included the vessels "Grunwald," "Gniezno," "Kraków," and "Sandomierz." The Trade Union of Printing Workers in Pulawy included: Aron Giwercman – chairman, [Moszek?] Kartman – Deputy Chairman; Mojżesz Melman – secretary; Mojżesz Kquarters – treasurer; Hersz Roter — board member. The organization “Society of Jewish Workers” existed in town and consisted of the following leaders, all of whom were also active in Poal’e Zion-Left: Abram Szniterman – chairman (33 years old), Zysia Rozenman – deputy chairman (24), Moszek Rozmaryn – secretary (23), Moszek Feldberf – treasurer (25), Moszek Kartman – board member (33 years old).

MEDICAL SOCIETIES

Members of the organization Linas Hatzedek, which provided support for the needy, existed in Pulawy. In 1925, its leaders included: Abram Mandelbaum, merchant (son of Menasha); Henoch Rechelz (son of Lejb), industrialist; Moshe Najmark (son of Chaim); Berek Nisenbaum (son of Boruch), merchant; Moshe Holcman (son of Abush), merchant; Judka Goldberg (son of Abram Icek); Majer Mandelbaum (son of Yermiyahu); Moshe Goldszlager (son of Szmuel); and Jankiel Roter (son of Chil).

In January 1927, a branch of the Health Protection Society was established in Puławy. The initiator of the establishment of the department, as well as its president, was a doctor living on Lubelska Street, Leon Nudelman. Other participants included: Icek Majer Feferman (son of Jankel), 46 years old, president of the Cooperative Bank in Puławy; Adler Henryk (son of Chaim), 42 years old, head of the Jewish primary school in Puławy, residing at Kosa Street; Klajnberg Abram Benjamin (son of Dawid), 48 years old, owner of a bookstore in Puławy; Bergrin Fiszel (son of Matys), 50 years old, owner of an oil depot in Puławy, residing at Piłsudskiego Street; Zysman Mendel (son of Baruch), 52 years old, a merchant living in Aleje Żyrzyńskie; Zylberbaum Josek (son of Samuel), 44 years old, owner of a hotel in Puławy, residing at Piłsudskiego Street; Wajsbrot Jojna (son of Chemja), 44 years old, baker, living at Błotna Street; Najmark Moszek (son of Chaim), 42 years old, painter, living at Polna Street; Goldszlagier Moszek (son of Szulam), 50 years old, merchant, residing at Kołłątaja Street; Borensztajn Bere (son of Herszek), 38 years old, a merchant, living at Lubelska Street.

CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

The organization Tarbut was active in town. It had a sports club that included Leon Rozenberg, Mordka Eisenman, and unknown Goldman. Tarbut’s goal was to spread Jewish culture and Hebrew education.

Jankiel Najmark and others were active in the organization "Liga" from 1926 onward. Its members were members of the Bund. In 1919, there were 25 Bund members in Pulawy. Betar, aka the Trumpeldor Jewish Scouts Association, was created in 1936. At its original meeting, 34 individuals participated.

JEWISH EDUCATION

Between the two world wars, there was a private Hebrew secondary school, as well as Tarbut, Yavneh and Beth Jacob schools, and a Jewish library. In 1930, the budget of the Religious Community provided subsidies for the “Tarbut” school. It was an elementary school students would attend after their public-school training. It operated from 1929 onward. The school's employees included Szmul Bronsztajn – head; Szlama Ajzensztajn – religion teacher and Chana Heliczerówna. In 1930, there was a Jewish religious school Talmud Torah in Puławy. The head of this school was Ch. M. Szwarcberg. The Society of Workers’ Universities created an institute to teach writing and writing for adults, led by Henryk Adler and Szymon Horowicz. The classes were conducted in Polish and Yiddish.

Until 1933, a general school for Jewish children operated in Puławy, located on Gdańska Street. Its principal was Henryk (Hersz) Adler. Additionally, the branch of the “Education Society in Puławy,” established in June 1934, and had 20 members who were also active with the Poal’e Zion-Left. Participants included Pinkus Jakub Zylbernudel (23 years old) – chair, tailor by profession; Herszek Huberman (25 years old) – treasurer; Chaja Sztajnberg (22 years old) – secretary, seamstress; Szyja Kacenelebogen (22 years old) – board, shoemaker; Szymon Frydman (22 years old) – board, shoemaker; Gimpel Grinberg (24 years old) – board, shoemaker.

POLITICAL PARTIES

From 1917, branches of all parties then active on the Jewish scene were organized in Pulawy. At first, the Bund and Agudat Israel (Union of Israel) wielded the greatest influence, but Po'alei Zion circles, other Zionist parties, and Communists also became popular.

Hitachdut, the Zionist Labor Party, existed in Pulawy. The leaders included Moszek Rubinsztajn, Szaja Wajnsztajn, Abram Nisenbaum, Moszek Ankier, Lejb Cukierfan, Icek Honigsztajn, Fajwel Szylman. The Bund's management board consisted of Moszek Rubinsztajn, Jozef Goldring, Gerszon Kuperblum, Chaskel Feldsztajn, and Szmul Bronsztajn. These organizations were also closely connected to the Tarbut organization.

The Zionist organization in Pulawy elected its board in 1923, as follows: Sender Luxembourg, Michel Wizenberg, Josek Golwaser, Icek-Meyer Karpel, Hersz Hendelsman and Goldreich Icek. Another meeting was held in 1927, with the following elected members: Moszek Rubinsztajn (31 years old), Rafał Liebfeld (30), Józef Waldbaum (32), Szlama Ratnowski (39), Aron Szylemez (29), Szmul Bajgelman (30), Mordeche Eisenmann (24), Icek Mayer Feferman (46), Saul Tochterman (32) and Jankiel Ratnowski (42). In 1929, 87 people belonged to the organization in Puławy (359 in the entire county). They were active mainly through such associations as: "Tarbut", "Hechalutz Pionier" and "Maccabi".

Universal Union of Zionist Women "Wizo" existed in Pulawy, organized by Elstera Goldringowa - 40 years old in 1933, a dentist from Puławy. Other members included Gitla Horsberg, 24 years old; Chana Helicherov, 24, a teacher at the Tarbut school. The branch had 50 members in 1937.

Aguda, an orthodox Jewish political association, existed from 1921 onward. In 1932, 57 people belonged to Aguda in Puławy. Its board members included Rabbi Mendal Naj, Pinchas Naj, Bencian Blumenkranc, Abram Hilgrad and Ancel Goldrajch.

The Society of Friends of Working Palestine was established in Puławy and included the following leaders: Jakier Najmark (28 years old) – Chairman; Chaim Goldberg (24 years old) – Secretary; Chemja Tajch (23 years old) – Treasurer. The organization was opposed to the Irgun. On February 1, 1936, a new board was elected and included the following individuals: Szulim Felberg (28 years old) – Chairman (a carpenter); Majer Kaufman (25 years old) – Vice-Chairman (a metalworker); Zysia Rozenman (29 years old) – Treasurer (a shoemaker); Chemja Tajch (24 years old) – Secretary (a shoemaker); and Fajwel Kuperblum (32 years old) – Board Member (a merchant).

FORMAL JEWISH COMMUNITY

Employees of Pulawy Jewish community in 1930 included: M. Naj, rabbi; shochets M. Kitner, P. Szechtman and J. Tenenbaum; meat inspector Sz. Melman; secretary M. Rubinsztajn; religious teacher N. Waserman; head of the Talmud Torah school Ch. M. Szwarcenberg; cemetery caretaker W. Szabason; synagogue sextons Ch. Bronsztajn, H. Goldnudel and Sz. Brik; grave digger Sz. Altman; secretary M. Zysman; and D. Perelman, whose city position is not clear.

Around 3,600 Jews lived in Pulawy out of an overall population of approximately 12,000 in 1939.

NEARBY JEWISH COMMUNITIES

Pulawy was the administrative center in the Lublin District, and it included villages and the farms nearby:

Baranow (1,100 Jews in 1939), Bobrowniki (200 Jews), Deblin-Irena (3,500 Jews in 1939), Gołąb (30 Jews), Janowiec (~360 Jews), Jozefow Nad Wisla (1,000 Jews), Kurow (2,000 Jews), Kazimierz Dolny (2,500 Jews), Konskowola (750-1,200 Jews), Markuszow (2,000 Jews), Michow (1,700-2,000 Jews), Naleczow (250-400 Jews), Opole Lubelski (4,500 Jews), Ryki (3,000-4,000 Jews), Stezyca (125 Jews) and Wawolnica (1,000-1,200 Jews). There may have been Jews in nearby villages such as Karczmiska, Poniatowa, Szumow, Wola Czolnowska, Zagozdz and Zyrzyn, but that information is not known.

THE HOLOCAUST IN PULAWY

A Wehrmacht unit occupied Pulawy in mid-September 1939 and the Jewish population was immediately confronted with violence and their possessions confiscated. As early as October 1939, all Jews aged 14 to 60 were subjected to forced labor; in November, an order was issued requiring them to wear armbands bearing the Star of David, as well as to mark all Jewish-owned enterprises—such as shops, workshops, and the like—with this symbol. Henryk Adler, the chairman of the kehilah and a public-school director, was named head of the Jewish Council (Judenrat). Other council members included Dr. Benjamin Honigsfeld, Kleinbaum Edelstein, and Moshe Rubinstein.

By the end of October 1939, the German administration ordered the Jews to move to a specially designated quarter, located in a pre-war district inhabited mostly by impoverished Jews. The ghetto spanned an area which was about 1/5 of the total size of Pulawy. Its streets included Piaskowa, Polna, Gdansk, Niemcewicz, and two courtyards. The Jews were confined to Gdansk and Piaskowa Streets. In early November 1939, the Germans put up posters in Pulawy instructing the Jews to move into the ghetto. One Holocaust survivor recalled that that the Germans issued an order on November 4, 1939, expropriating all Jewish-owned businesses hours before the Jews had to move into the ghetto.

Conditions in the ghetto were poor, as there was no sewage system or electricity because the Nazi bombardment had destroyed the power plant in the first few weeks of the war. The area designated for the ghetto was far too small for its 4,000 inhabitants. The Germans seized on the opportunity and organized night-time raids on the ghetto to plunder Jewish homes, in search of valuables and jewelry. Brutal beatings were commonplace and those Jews who violated the 5:00 pm curfew were shot on the spot.

The ghetto in Pulawy was short lived; it was the first ghetto to be liquidated in the Lublin district. Posters were put up by the Germans on December 26, 1939, giving the Jews 48 hours to pack their belongings in preparation for resettlement. Because the temperatures hovered below freezing, the Jewish Council offered the local German authorities a bribe to postpone the evacuation action until the spring. This was rejected as was a similar appeal from a group of Jewish women with young children.

The Jews did not enjoy the promised 48 hours, as the Germans started the aktion on the night of December 27, 1939, German police units (probably from nearby Kazimierz Dolny) stormed the ghetto. They searched Jewish homes with their dogs, ordered men from their beds onto the streets, and ordered women to pack up belongings. This expulsion was accompanied by savage beatings and screaming. The Nazi police units ordered the men to stand in a row on Lublin Street, the main street in Pulawy, facing the buildings with their arms raised, and to sing in the freezing cold till morning. Because they had been dragged from their beds, many were dressed only in nightclothes. The Germans guarding them beat them savagely, while S.S. men standing nearby photographed the beatings. The German police locked the infirm and physically handicapped Jews in the unheated synagogue, where they all almost froze to death.

The resettlement took place the next morning -- at 8am the men held captive along Lublin Street were marched all together to Opole Lubelskie Ghetto. Along the way, some of the Nazi guards brutally beat them. The women were given until noon to vacate Pulawy. Most were forced to walk the 20 miles to Opole Lubelskie with their luggage, as only a few managed to hire wagons. Many infants died from exposure along the road. Some 2,500 Jews arrived in Opole Lubelskie. However, some of the Jews of Pulawy decided to flee to nearby towns and villages, such as Wawolnica, Kazimierz Dolny, and Belzyce.

In early 1940, another transport of Jews from Puławy was deported to Nałęczów, Baranów, Ryki, and Końskowola. On May 15, 1942, 261 Jews from Bardejov, Slovakia were deported to Pulawy Ghetto.

After the expulsions, the only Jews officially permitted to live in Pulawy were were about 500 Jewish prisoners who were incarcerated in four Judenlager camps for forced laborers. The inmates cleaned streets, repaired railway tracks, worked on road construction, and hauled timber at the state-owned sawmill. Subsequently, in 1943, the last Jewish inhabitants of Puławy — who had been employed in the forced labor camps operating there — were murdered.