Destruction in Bialystok
Mother received great consolation from our efforts that made life without Father pleasantly tolerable. [This] quiet and comparably easy life continued for three and a half years, until the preparations for our voyage to America started with an urgent train trip to Bialystok, Poland... We were in need of health checkups, especially the eyes of the six of us. A doctor in that city was the one recommended, and in all probability [he] was the closest doctor to our village.
Bialystok could have been a beautiful city to visit. The two- and three-story buildings were clean. [There were] horse-drawn streetcars [and] electric lights… on streets paved with smooth stones instead of cobblestones.
[original page 29] There also were open markets displaying fruits and vegetables that we [normally] saw only during Rosh Hashanah. Were it not for the destruction caused by the [Bialystok] pogroms, those sights would have filled our eyes with the pleasures of life in a large city...
[Each day for] nearly two weeks, we crossed the large city square on our way to visit the eye doctor. Those walks were anything but pleasant. The destroyed Jewish businesses located around the city square were numerous. The tall iron shutters in front of their stores had been no protection... In the doctor's waiting room were injured patients of all sorts and ages, filling all available spaces. Those in need of the most urgent attention were the first to be called... Every day... we arrived at his office at 7:00 am and stayed until sundown. Patiently we waited in an atmosphere where we were considered to be fortunate. After the first few days we became hardened to the sights in the waiting room. We did not mind waiting so that the unfortunate ones could get medical attention sooner. Our turn to see the doctor finally came. Instead of a single patient there were six of us, which amazed him. He spoke in a quiet, gentle manner, in fluent Yiddish...
He wasted little time on four of us, but Mother and brother Hy both required a number of treatments along with some useful advice about sanitation. Their eyes improved continuously. Dealing with the doctor was very satisfactory; but the parting with Bialystok was a great relief...
We Return from Bialystok
When we arrived at the Visoko, Litovsk, railroad station, the village Balegola was there with his horse and wagon as usual, to pick up passengers or baggage. Fortunately, we were his only passengers, so the six of us had the wagon to ourselves. We made ourselves comfortable on the straw in the springless wagon for a bumpy “enjoyable” return to our home in the village.
At home, before we could shake the straw off our clothes, the house was filled with villagers to welcome us back and to listen to our first-hand description of what had happened in... Bialystok, and in general to hear about our adventure of being in a large city. Gifts they did not expect, nor did we have any for anyone. All we wanted to do was to relax, if possible, in the calmness of the village.
