Wonderful Stories from Zmigród

We are very fortunate to have been able to collect some of Max Findling and Nathan Laks' Recollections of Early Life in Zmigród, and we are delighted to present them to you.

From Max Findling:

In wintertime there were very big snows...snows so high you'd have to make a tunnel to go from one house to another. As a kid I remember these big snows. Zmigród stood on a hill, but we didn't have sleds, so we took a table from one of the synagogues, turned it upside down, sat on it and went down the hill....it was a big hill. We also used to play soccer in the street with Polish children. We used to fight and play.
AntiSemitism and The Judosz: Most of the Polish townspeople were anti-Semitic. Every year before Good Friday, the locals would steal a hat (strayml) from a Jewish man and use it for a puppet (the Judosz). They made the Judosz life-size, dressed it in black, with peyes and a beard. On Thursday evening, thousands of Poles of all ages carrying sticks would come into town from the surrounding areas. If you'd ask where they were going, they would say, "I'm going 'ayudasha' -- to the Judosz.". Everyone would go to the square in front of the church. They would hang the Judosz by the legs from the highest window of the church and call out nasty names for the Jews. The Jews stood on the other side (all around the church were mostly Jewish houses). The Jewish community wrote to the Polish police...they would come, but would not interfere. In the afternoon, they would throw the puppet down from the church window, put it up on sticks and take it to the rabbi's house where they would stand in front of the window and throw garbage before moving on to the homes of other well-known Jews. This lasted for about hour. Fights would break out. Then they would take the Judosz to the bridge over the Wisloka River (pronounced Visloka), pour gasoline on it, set it on fire, and throw it into water.
The photograph above was taken in 1940. A few years before the war, some Jews stole the Judosz and threw it into the Mikvah.
The year the Germans came, the Poles thought that the Germans would like their display of anti-Semitism. However, when the Germans saw thousands of Poles with sticks coming into town, they thought it was an uprising and they shot a few demonstrators. Then they brought in a wagon with horses and put the dead on the wagon to be taken away for burial. In Zmigród, there was a man in City Hall who made public announcements by beating a big drum to attract attention. He beat the drum to announce that the uprising was over.
Zmigrod, 1935. This photograph was taken around 1935 in Zmigród Nowy. We are not sure of the occasion. However, many of the folks have been identified.
- Men standing, top row, left to right: Chaskel Bobker, Yankel Czeszanover, Peisseh Kratzer, Mina Getz, Moshe Einhorn, Nachman Wrubel (Nachmu Kiszku), Lisze Shtein.
- Second row, left to right: Sima Liebner (Mrs. Mordecai Posterung from Dukla), Chaim Kaufman, Seril Liebner (Mrs. Shlormo Gross), Tema Haber, Mina ?, Haya Blauground, ? Tzimet and David Lang (man with the large hat).
- Third Row, standing, left to right: Haim Leib's daughter, Shapse Haber, Leah Shamir, Haya Findling, David Weinberg, Dolish Blauground, woman-unknown, woman-unknown, Suniv Stein
- Sitting: Hersh Stecher (with his child), Frumit (Yankel Sziszter tochter), Suniv Kreiss, Szmeil Getz, Scheindel Stecher Getz (Mrs Oszer Getz), Jakiv Itche Getz, Sheindel Krebs, Baruch Krebs. Children: first three belong to Hersch Stecher, youngest Getz boy, boy-unknown.
Bnai Akiba: This photograph was donated by Max Findling and Nathan Lachs; they have identified the young folks; it is from a gathering of Zmigród Youth, a Zionist Organization, sometime around 1940. Other survivors living in Israel have assisted with the identification of those pictured left to right:
- Back Row, Standing: ? Krischer, ?, ? Kranz, ?, Schabso Haber, Meir Gross, ? Rosenman, girl in white?, Ester Laks, Tova Krischer, girl?, Manya Laks, Mojsze Holihock Weinsztein, Berta Kreps (white collar), Dawid Haber, Chaja Ester Findling, man behind ?, Berish Berger, Jacob Findling, Lajzer Beer (hat), ?, Mojsze Beer (dark suit)
- Kneeling: ?, Chaja Hirszel (white collar), Raizl Leibner, Mendl Wimiszner, Barish Berger (tie), Jacobitze (Itzak) Zanger, Schprinca Ingber (girl in front), Berta Lachs, Mojsze Leibner, Berish Krebs (white shirt & tie), Henoch Rotenberg (behind), Schlomo Gross (white shirt & tie), ?Findling (in Hat)
- Girls Sitting, front row: ? Kranz, ?, ? Rosenman, Szlomo Kranz, Sara Wimiszner, plaque, Golda Laks, Laibisz Szperling, ? Rosenman, Golda Bobker
More Stories From Max Findling: Cheders and Schools: Behind the shul were two buildings, including a cheddar for poorer children; richer children went to smaller, more private chedders. There were also chedders of higher learning. I went to Rabbi Eller Inkberg to learn German; we learned to read Gutish (old German), not like you read now. The language in my time was Polish but before World War I, Zmigród was part of the (German-speaking) Austrian Empire. There was school for seven grades. Most children (Jews and Polish) attended. The environment at school was very anti-Semitic because the Jewish students were the best students; there were always fights. I studied history, spelling, language, geography and arithmetic. Boys wore peyes. The Polish boys would try to rip off the yamalkas, and they would bring pork to school and try to make the Jews eat it. We went to public school until 1:00 PM; then we walked to cheddar, where we stayed until evening (after mincha). To walk home in the dark, we would make a torch out of potato and candle. Everyone went to school. The girls had separate schools.
In Zmigród: Most houses had dirt floors. There was no electricity; we used gas lamps and kerosene lanterns. There were no stoves as we know them; ovens and ceramic devices were used for heat and cooking. Shops: The stores in Zmigród sold grain, fabric, food, iron (pots, hardware), groceries and clothing. There was also a pharmacy and a Jewish club/bar. We had a "potchiness", an arcade with the stores inside. These were destroyed in the war.
Illness and Death: There was no hospital. If someone got sick, you would go to the synagogue, call the shamis, open the torah and pray. Medicine was aspirin, compresses of milk, etc. Everyone died at home. There were two doctors, one Jewish (Dr. Fishler) and one non-Jewish. When a person died, you put him on the floor. The Chevre Kadisha brought in a casket, washed the body and put it in a shroud. If the deceased was a wise and religious person, the casket was brought into the synagogue and a speech was made. Then the casket was taken to the cemetery, but the procession stopped every few feet to say prayers. We carried the casket on our shoulders, we didn't use a wagon, so every few meters other bearers would take over.
When someone died, it was necessary to pay the head of the Jewish Community in order to get permission to bury. How much you paid depended upon what you were "worth". When Herschel Volter died, there was friction between the two groups of Jewish people; Sinai Halberstam was the Rabbi. Although Herschel Volter's wife Gittel only baked bread in her house, they set a large amount for permission to bury. Hersel Volter was laying in the house 4 days, much longer than called for by Jewish law. His grandson Leiser Beer, who was on vacation from the Polish Army, took 10 from his family, went to the cemetery and dug a grave. The came with police but they could not stop the family.
In the winter, it was difficult to bury the dead. We would put wood on the grave site and burn it in order to get the ground soft enough to dig.
I remember a ritual to pass on the good qualities of the dead to a young child; when my uncle Leibish Findling died, my father brought in a small child, about a year old, and they moved Leibish's hand over the child's body.
Holidays: Before Passover, everyone had to make matzos; those without money went to help bake. Some of the matzah was baked across the street from my house. At this time of year, Forem Greidigger came to Zmigród dressed in buttons and a tall paper hat. He would entertain by singing Polish and Yiddish songs; the kids were crazy about him. As children we had a lot of fun.
The Passover Sedar: The pots and pans were made Kosher for Passover; they would be placed in large tubs of water, and red hot stones would be added. We made the wine in our own home by bringing up grapes, and mixing them with water. When we took the grapes out, we had wine. We sold the humitz to the goyem. Sukkot: If you owned a house, you made a Sukkah in the house by opening the skylights in the roof and sitting under them.
We had a relative named Itche Schiff, from Zidovska, living with us; he had seven sons in America. They would each send him money every month, but he had little to spend it on. He did, however, build a gravestone for his grave, which he kept in the house. On Chanukah and Purim, this man would set up a table in the street; the table had two drawers of money, one drawer of dollars and one drawer of zlotys. From the table he would distribute the money. Government Buildings: Zmigród had a jail, post office, school and City Hall. There was no train; the nearest train was in Jaslo. Clothing: Everybody wore a hat, but the women in Zmigród did not wear sheitels (wigs).

From Nathan Laks

Zmigród: Our town had a Jewish presence before Yaslo. I was born 1922 in Zmigród in my grandfather's house (#201). The synagogue was the oldest in the area, perhaps built in 1500/1600s. It had four huge columns holding up the roof (beimer) and huge stone walls.
The New Synagogue is on the left, the Old Synagogue in the center, and Hene Eisenberg's shop is on the right.
Schools: I barely finished elementary school because I stopped in the middle because my rebbi told me it wasn't right to sit with girls in same classes; but my older sisters made me finish. I went to Chadar (before and after school) to Shimon Cohen; he had a store, hardware, went "bankrupt" or something; he became a melamed a religious teacher; had a little house behind mine, had a chadar. Had 8 children/students. If very rich, got a tutor; most sent children to chadar to learn to daven/pray. Girls were taught to daven, read in Yiddish (not to write). The Gymanasium/high school was in Yaslo. Had to pay tuition, similar to college; few went as it required attending school on Saturday and Jewish holidays. Pesche Kratzer was my rebbi. My sister was one of the brightest in the school, but father would not allow her to attend.
At Home: Breakfast was slices of bread to each children; only youngest got with a little jam. Sometimes punished children by saying no bread for dinner. Dinner and breakfast was only bread; the main meal, with chicken was at lunch time. On Shabbas we would cook. A sign of wealth was daily meals of chicken soup.
Clothing Jews never bought ready made garments, get material locally from beyelsko (Jews couldn't afford material from Manchester England; tailor would work 5 days for 1/3 cost of material). I got my first suit about 1938; before that got used clothing; mother had brother in Switzerland, my father had family in US; they sent packages; used clothing; worth a fortune. They would take to a tailor, he would clean it up, resew it and you had a new coat. If material faded away, took it apart, turned over in the left side. White shirts, no colors; full shirt; the old men used to wear stiff collars and cuffs. Living Conditions: Before pesach everyone would whitewash the kitchen; buy "stone" put into water, fizzled, became whitewash; then we hired a Shiksa (peasant woman) to paint the kitchen; we paid 50 grosch a day. We would take out all possessions from house for pesach. If you had 2 rooms you were rich. Kitchen with stove, chest, cradle. Living room was the bedroom. We were 6 children, slept in one room. One side father, with 2 boys, other side mother with daughters. Slept until 7 or 8 with father. Had "day bed" shutbang, wooden cover for the day, like a sofa. Question: if you slept with father, girls slept with mother, how come so many children. Answer: They didn't care, middle of the night....they didn't do for pleasure, but for a mitzvah (torah says you should bear children). Times were difficult; and the next generation didn't want so many children.
At Work: Some Jews, especially around Lemburg, owned huge ranches. There was a rich farmer name Vinishner, who had 8 cows, hired farm workers to till land; if you had 2 cows you were considered a rich man. When the harvest came, everything was done by hand; we waited for the field to get dry; built haystacks, took them inside, cleaned grain away from straw, by hand; there was a thresher and 2 people turned the handle. Then they went to the mill and to grind it into flour. The peasant ate shitcur, pumpernickel; here when you buy pumpernickel has color in it; there it was not finely milled, contained wheat bran. The peasants sold chickens to Jews for shabbas. Many Jews lived in small villages...were farmers, small shopkeepers (combined farming with stores). Jews never went to work with a shovel. Question: What was day laborer? - a man who had no job or store; perhaps peddler, middleman (buy food from peasant on way into town and resell).
The Sawmill The choice in Zmigród was to be a tailor or sit and learn gemurah; a few boys went to work in the sawmill; like Yehual Lang, this was progress. The sawmill was the only industry in Zmigród; it belonged to a Jew, named Wislov. I would be happy if they took me into the sawmill, steady work, made 2 zloties a day. It wasn't easy because most laborers and supervisors were Polish. Two brothers were supervisors because they were related to the owner, Wistreich. They had young relative in village Lisa Duran (past Zmigród Stary), David Wistreich was 2 or 3 years younger than me. Wistreich sent him to the gymnasium in Krakow.
Other towns/ethnic groups: It was about 30 km to the Czech border, there were no other towns south down to Katowitz(a), a town in Benden ( in Silezia/Schlazen) (north) people made a good living there. Before the war, we sold them goods. The Lemkos: in Jewish were called Yuwanum, they were Greek Catholics, and were not Polish and spoke different dialect. They earned few grosch doing chores (100 grosch = 1 zloty); labor was cheap. The Lemkos would bring in firewood, cut 1 meter long; so it would fit into stove. Never set price, had to handle, until agreed. The Lemko would come with horse and wagon to your house and unloaded the firewood. A cutter could make 1 zloty per day (2 kilos of bread was 1/2 zloty, a Kilo sugar was almost a zloty). Labor was cheap and they used horse drawn sleds to deliver firewood; the sleigh was low enough so it was necessary to tie only on one side, left hanging in the snow.
Religion and Zionism: Most children were raised in religious way; later on, about 14/15, many would join secular Zionist organizations, less religious. Akibatis (not leftist, middle ground Zionists, but boys and girls sat together); some of the older generation men were alarmed that the boys and girls sat together learning in the afternoon, they once broke windows to show they were not pleased with the situation) they took canes; went to the meeting of Akibatis; the men ran out first, saying only girls in there. Another group was the Mizrachi (not orthodox, more liberal), then a few years before war they founded Agudas Yisrael (very orthodox). Yaslo had an extreme left Zionist group. In Zmigród few were communists, there was no organization, but some read and thought it was a good idea. But in Poland if you belonged to communist organization, they would try you, like in Mccarthy times. When I was about 7, a relative in Yaslo was taken to court and sentenced to prison; he came with his sister, they stayed in our house but were nervous all night, didn't sleep; then they got up early before dawn to go to Lemkos who knew how to get across the border; if you were caught, could get long term sentence.
Names Remembered: The Bakers (Weinstein and Lang); Meyer Krill was a neighbor; Malka Eisenberg (cousin of Selig); Selig's uncle Itzik Eisenberg, Meisner (a neighbor), cousins Grosser, Hersch and Israel Stecher (hardware store), Trachman brothers and sister Feige Trachman who married Pacher (supermarkets in East NY Bklyn); Survivors: Ehreich, in Elizabeth; Yosef Conner (was Zimmer) in Toronto, born 1924; Birenbaum, Peretz Trachman, parents Leibish (tailor, made peasant clothing, not very expensive, I wouldn't go to him for clothes) and Gittel, from Hungary, called her the vengeker ('Hungarian). We all thought Peretz was rich because he had dollars sent from US, even though Father was only a tailor. Peretz' mother Gittel, when she went to the market to buy fish, would save the best for Peretz, her only son. Peretz' wife Leah was from Dembowicz (on the road towards Yaslo); cousin Moshe Reiss lived in this town too, had a sister Fulah Reiss, married Yoshua/Sheah Bobka (son of Itzic Bobka, who had a grocery store), uncle Pavel Reiss went to Israel (I met him in 1947). Esrael Stecher had a hardware store;. Schachner from Dukla; Feders; one sister went to school with my sister; first to have phonograph (manual), lived on road to Dukla. Lang was laborer in tarmac/saw mill; earned 2 zloties daily, very good job because steady. David Haber, who I met in Israel, had 2 girls; worked in gafftrite, match factory in Haifa. He had sisters Shapse and Tema; Shimon Eisenberg, grain merchant; had horse and wagon, would travel to Jaslo. Zelig Eisenberg's father sold leather; had sister who sold fabrics for clothing.
After WWI: after Versailles, 11/11/18, the war was over and Poland became independent.
The Laks family is pictured at the right in 1938, in Zmigrod.
Emigration: many left Zmigród after WWI, until the US put in quotas to exclude the East European Jews. Austria was most liberal (towards Jews); Galitzia had autonomy. When Austria left (around 1919), the Poles established a Polish Republic. The villagers always wanted the Jewish properties; my mother always talks about this; they looted Jewish houses and stores; after this many Jews left. It was not as Shubert told Petje (in the travelogue, he said that they lived peaceful) it's a myth; the Jews were always separate from Poles; every Polish child learned to say "zit" before he said mama. Pinkus Wolmut sold our houses after the war; he is only Jew buried in cemetery after war. Jews left Zmigród for larger cities. The town died little by little. In the 1930s there was nationalistic government in Poland which encouraged the polish commerce; gave low interest loans to buy stores and asked the Poles not buy goods from Jews, to set up their own shops and become economically independent. In the papers, around 1930s, I read the speech by General Splokdowski - encouraging economic boycott of Jews;. The Poles picketed Jewish shops with the motto: each to his own.
The Holocaust: In 1941 the Nazis hunted Jews for work; we were taken by truck; unloaded in the marketplace in Yaslo; some of the Germans had a game to cut peis; made themselves a little show. During this, Peretz Trachman walked slowly away; disappeared ; I thought he would surely live through the war; he wasn't taken to Fristak. We worked, I don't remember what kind of work, and we lived in the public school; my sister came and released me after a day or two. During the war, they brought transports from Lodz, Krakow, then villages around Zmigród. When I went to the camps they took away every piece of clothing and every paper or picture. I went to Israel in 1946, and was interviewed by reporter in kibbutz; I asked the reporter to contact my sister Mollie in Brooklyn; the story was printed in an American paper.

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. . . .

Nowy Zmigród Today

Nowy Zmigród is located in the Krosno region of southeastern Poland on the east bank of the Wisloka River. Prior to World War I, this area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and known as the imperial province of Galicia. The surrounding communities include Yaslo, Jedlicze, Krosno, Brzozow, Rymanow, Sanok, Lesko, Bukowsko, Dukla, Krempna, Osiek Jasielski, Debowiec . The map coordinates for Nowy Zmigród are 49 37'/21 32'. The coat of arms of Zmigród: Smigrod Sigillum Civitatis

The coat of arms of Zmigród: Smigrod Sigillum Civitatis........

The Meaning of the name Zmigród: Gro'd refers to 'town' while 'Z'mi' refers to the Polish word 'z'mija' which means snake. Thus Zmigród means Snaketown or Vipertown. Note that the Z is pronounced 'Zh'. And, of course, Nowy is New. According to its web site, the town today has 9,821 residents and an unemployment rate of 15.4%. In addition to a City Hall, Police Station, Post Office and Family Medical Center, Nowy Zmigród has a Cultural Center, a Stadium, one restaurant, two bars and a school camp and the head of the village (Naczelnik) is Urzad Gminy. From old gazetteers we found that in 1900, out of a population of 2249, there were 1240 Jews. In 1921 Nowy Zmigród had 940 Jews. Although the history of the Jewish community goes back to the 16th century.....today there are no Jews.

For a wonderful commentary on Zmigród today, see our researchers travelogue below.

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The Cemetery (Source: US Comm no. POCE000730; Krosno).

The cemetery is 1500 meters off the market square, by the road to Jaslo. It is 18 km from Jaslo and 37 km from the larger town of Krosno. Cemetery Gravestones

The cemetery is in a suburban area, on a hillside, isolated, with no sign or marker, reached by turning directly off a public road, but is open to all. There is no wall or fence or gate.

The size of the cemetery is 0.2ha. and was this size before WWII. There are approximately 200 gravestones, most in original position, most from 18th,19th and 20th century); the gravestones are made of sandstone, finely smoothed and inscribed; some flat stones have carved decorations. The inscriptions are in Hebrew.

The property is used only as a cemetery. The present owner is unknown. Properties adjacent are agricultural. The cemetery is visited rarely by private visitors. The cemetery has been known to have been vandalized during WWII and has no maintenance. Security, weather erosion, vegetation, (including young trees that are overgrown and breaking gravestones) and vandalism pose a very serious threat. Water drainage is a seasonal problem. The survey was completed on September 11, 1992 by Piotr Antoniock.

Many folks we have talked to have expressed an interest in cataloguing the Jewish stones which have survived the ravages of time and the destructive wars. Some day we hope to report that it was done.

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The Town Plan of Zmigród Nowy

Apteka/Synagogue
Cafe
Houses with Arcades (Berger)
House of the Catholic Community
Town Hall with USC
School
Post Office
Kasia
Chapel
Brozyna's house
Old Jewish houses
Church tower and Church
Old Wooden Houses
Buchsbaum's restaurant
Monument with Coat of Arms
Bus Stop
Communistic building with shops
Parking place

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