Dorothy Kraus Memoir

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The Poles and Their Church
The Polish quarter stretched out into the fields and most of the Poles were farm laborers attached to the seigniory. For the most part they were quite backward and superstitious. Their sole contact with culture was the church. Yet the church kept them in ignorance, and its teachings were the basis of the hatred of the Jews, which blamed them for the death of Christ, rendering them proper objects of punishment. Peasant boys, poor, ignorant, had the right to throw things at them, spit on them and call them names. But who dared complain? The Jews accepted all abuses; he stepped aside to avoid pogroms that were always imminent.

Editor's Notes: The seigniory almost certainly refers to the Patocki Estate and its paid workers, who apparently retained some aspects of their now-bygone feudal status. The Patocki Estate lies on the west side of the river and --to this day-- fields stretch to the west from that side of the town. The Polish Catholic Church still stands today, across the street from the Estate.

This material is from Original Page 2 and Original Page 3.

Page Last Updated: 07-Nov-2012