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In the 1900s and 1910s Jewish pogroms took place in Poland. Then the situation calmed down and then they started again in 1919. The guard in the house where we rented an apartment, Franek, was a real gangster, drunkard and hooligan, but he worshiped my mom, which was unexplainable. He was ready to kneel in front of her. Certainly, Franek was connected with the gangs, who were involved in pogroms. Once, Franek called my mom and said, ‘Sarah, there will be a dry pogrom.’ ‘Dry’ pogrom implied that the pogrom-makers wouldn’t kill the Jews. They would destroy houses, plunder, beat people, but not murder them.
Father was very nervous and said that the doors should be barricaded for the pogrom-makers not to break into. Mother said that it should be the other way around: keep the door wide open. If the pogrom-makers saw that they would be shocked and Mother wanted to take advantage of that. So, that’s what she did: she left the door wide open.
The next day there was a crowd of pogrom-makers in our street. I don’t know how many people there were. Their leader was in the front. They came in our apartment. Mother welcomed them with a smile and told them to feel at home. It was a pity that there were not enough chairs for the ‘honorable guests.’ Let them sit the way they wanted. The pogrom-makers looked at each other perplexed, as they were taken aback by such a reception. Mother kept on being affable saying that they could take all they wanted: ‘Would you need darned baby’s stockings? Take them. Or patched dresses of my daughters? Go ahead!’ The pogrom-makers kept silent, and none of them moved. Then Mother took a box with cigarettes. At that time there was a deficit, but Mother had gotten ready in advance. She started treating them to cigarettes and saying that unfortunately it was the only treat she had for the guests. They took them, the leader gave a sign and they vanished.
In two or three weeks, Franek came up to my mother again. He was very nervous and said that there would be a ‘wet’ pogrom for several days and we had to flee. We lived on the border of Poland with Germany and Mother decided that we should run away there. I don’t know how she managed to arrange for Father to cross the border, but he was the first from the family to do so. Then she had us go, and finally she crossed the border herself.
Father was very nervous and said that the doors should be barricaded for the pogrom-makers not to break into. Mother said that it should be the other way around: keep the door wide open. If the pogrom-makers saw that they would be shocked and Mother wanted to take advantage of that. So, that’s what she did: she left the door wide open.
The next day there was a crowd of pogrom-makers in our street. I don’t know how many people there were. Their leader was in the front. They came in our apartment. Mother welcomed them with a smile and told them to feel at home. It was a pity that there were not enough chairs for the ‘honorable guests.’ Let them sit the way they wanted. The pogrom-makers looked at each other perplexed, as they were taken aback by such a reception. Mother kept on being affable saying that they could take all they wanted: ‘Would you need darned baby’s stockings? Take them. Or patched dresses of my daughters? Go ahead!’ The pogrom-makers kept silent, and none of them moved. Then Mother took a box with cigarettes. At that time there was a deficit, but Mother had gotten ready in advance. She started treating them to cigarettes and saying that unfortunately it was the only treat she had for the guests. They took them, the leader gave a sign and they vanished.
In two or three weeks, Franek came up to my mother again. He was very nervous and said that there would be a ‘wet’ pogrom for several days and we had to flee. We lived on the border of Poland with Germany and Mother decided that we should run away there. I don’t know how she managed to arrange for Father to cross the border, but he was the first from the family to do so. Then she had us go, and finally she crossed the border herself.
Period
Year
1919
Location
Poland
Interview
Amalia Blank
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