Dorothy Kraus Memoir

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Aftermath
The synagogue became the hub of the Jewish balebatem (business gentlemen). In between services, groups of men clustered among themselves to discuss the new situation. The women got the news afterwards from their husbands, if they deemed it advisable.

The Polish peasants near our village did not show themselves during these days. The Shabbos Goim (Sabbath Gentiles) didn't appear to do their usual chores. Only one elderly Gentile came to the village to continue his Friday night and Saturday morning tasks. Since he was the only one available he became much in demand. This shortage of Sabbath Gentiles forced some of the families to commit the sin of lighting the oven themselves.

They would say a prayer before striking the match and ask for God's forgiveness. But most of the time they asked a teen-age daughter to undertake this deed while remarking: “We are sure God will forgive her.” But this job was never turned over to a boy of no matter what age.

Many of the Jews asked each other, “How can we think of the Poles being our protectors? And how long will it last?” Nothing was certain in this topsy-turvey world. Everything came to us as though it was a kind of Baba Yaga tale (a fable). Our little Zionist club suffered the most from these circumstances. The two leaders tried to keep us together but the members became discouraged. How could we build a Jewish State in this crazy world and with what? Only my good friend, Sabra, kept peppering us with stories her father told her, “Israel will win out in the end but we must help her,” she pleaded. but most Jewish families sought for more practical solutions to their dilemmas. Curiously, many of them began to look for ways of instructing their children in Polish. That would be the language they would need, not Hebrew, they thought.

As for ourselves, mother, my sister and myself, we were still waiting for that boat to take us to America.

Editor's Notes: The synagogue: Presumably, the New Shul (now in ruins), while the Old Shul had been assigned a secondary role. Balebatem: Dorothy translates this as business gentlemen, but a better rendering would be house owners, that is, the wealthy of the town. Baba Yaga: a witchlike character in Slavic folklore.

This material is from Original Page 59 and Original Page 60 .

Page Last Updated: 23-Oct-2012