In 1950 our son was born. We named him Shlema after my father. I made pretty good money like other cutters. I could make my cuts. I do not want to share what I did. All I can say that it was impossible to live on salary only, so like other people working at the factory I saved a little bit on the fabric and then sold it externally. When our political offer suggested joining the party, I told him that I did not consider myself to be squeaky clean the way the communist should be. In 1953 Stalin died. All people around me cried, but I was indifferent.
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Meer Kuyavskis
I had worked in the hospital for a year, then started working in the atelier as a tailor. I was pretty good money there. My skills got better and better and soon I became a good cutter of men’s and ladies’ garment. I had my own clients and had a rather comfortable living. I rented an apartment from one Jewish lady. It was not far from my work. In couple of years I went to work to the factory, where I was promoted to the foreman. I was offered to join komsomol, though I was indifferent to social work and communistic ideas, but I had to do it. I was an active komsomol member, I just paid membership fee and attended the meetings regularly. At times, I went to the cinema, dancing, to the recreation center for the machinist. At the dancing party I met Stephania Vakayte, a young Lithuanian lady. I liked her instantly. Stephania was born in Kaunas in 1926. She was in occupation during the war and she knew about all horrors Jews had to go through. Stepha and I started dated and fell in love with each other. Stepha had a small daughter Aldona, born in 1946. I took her as my own child. I never asked Stepha who the father of her daughter was. I did not care what her past was. In 1949 I proposed to Stepha. It did not matter to me that Stepha was a Jew. She was my soul mate. Stepha's parents were not very happy about our marriage, but on the other hand they understood that it would not be easy for her to raise her daughter by herself. In 1949 Stepha and I had our marriage registered. Her daughter and she moved in my place.
I started looking for my brothers right after my arrival in Kaunas. I sent letters in many places- Red Cross, central search bureau, but they had no information on Kuyavskiy. If brothers looked for me, we might have met, but they decided that Benjamin and I died and they made no attemps in finding us. I understood that I was left alone in this world. At that time I found out from one of my pals, with who I was in Germany, that my father perished in early 1944. He was taken out of ghetto with a group of Jews. They were taken from one camp to another, but nobody wanted to take the group of elderly people and all of them were executed.
In postwar Kaunas all Jews who had survived the war, came to the synagogue. We were temporarily allowed to live there. I had nothing- no money, food. All I had is just a change of clothes that we were given in the Germany. I was astounded by friendly attitude of Kaunas Jews. They helped us the best way they could, they had a pretty hard living after war. People brought food, clothes to the synagogue. They tried to help us find work. My pals from the camp with whom I came to Kaunas, found their relatives and moved in their place. I tried looking for a job. I was assisted by one Jewish doctor, who was working in Kaunas hospital. He recommended me to work in the hospital as a tailor. So my apprenticeship in ghetto was very handy for me now. I had a lot of work in the hospital- I had to sew bed linen, clothes, robe, furniture covers. There were some patients who were about to recover and the helped me with my work. I lived in a small room in the hospital. There was a bed, sewing machine, table and a chair. It seemed a luxury to me at that time. I had meals in the hospital as well. Besides, I was paid money for my job.
It was on 27 April 1945. By that time I was absolutely despondent. I became numb- having neither fear, nor joy when I saw the Americans. I even did not come up to them as I was indifferent. I was in dumps for having lost my brother. We were housed in the former barracks for soldiers. We were fed very well. I was surprised by the fact that Americans did not only feed former captives, but also Germans. For them all people were equal. They thought that German women and children were to blame; thus they should not be refused in the primary goods. Though, some of the former captives, a Jew, were perturbed with that. So they just opened up another buttery hatch for Jews and Germans not to bump into each other. Then we were housed in German barracks in the city. He we liked like lords. German captives were there to serve us. We had great meals, were given cigarettes, chewing gum, cigars. Americans talked us into going to the West, America, Canada. Many people decided to leave. I just dreamed of finding elder brother hoping that they survived the war in Soviet Union. When I was in the camp, I met some Jews from Lithuania, who lived in Kaunas before war and I decided to go with them. In autumn 1945 we took the train to Lithuania. It was strange that they even did not watch who was getting on the train. Though, we had to stay in the barracks for a while. We were called for interrogation for several times.
In April 1945 we happened to be in Lansberg. Here Benjamin was affected with typhus. He and other sick people were separated from the others. They merely were left to die. Fascists were escaping to the West, and they even did not have time to shoot the sick people. I was afraid to part with my brother and went to the place were people suffering from typhus were. Benjamin told me to leave, just asked me for water. When I came to fetch water, my brother was not there. I thought he had been shot as I noticed the policeman who did the mopping-up. Then I darted from the barrack to the heap of the cadavers and it saved me as I was taken for dead. I feinted and when I came around I was in the camp among Americans, who liberated us.
In two weeks, we were placed in goods cars and taken to the Western Germany, where there was not only a lack of soldiers, but workers. Before departure,we were given bands with numbers and were told to sew them on the collars of the clothes. We came to Landsberg, which was 50 km from Munich. There was one of Dachau camps [13], where the prisoners worked on construction of the underground aerodrome. Those were the most dreadful days during the war. It was a real drudgery – 15 hours of work per day breaking slabs in the mine. We slept underground on earth. We were barely given any food to be able to hold sledge hammer. We were involved in this construction for couple of weeks and then we headed towards the west, to another Dachau camp. We had been moving from one Dachau camp to another for several month and very many people died meanwhile. I do not know what helped my brother and I, probably because we followed mother’s last words- to flock together. The trains transporting the prisoners were bombed by American planes for couple of times. I was struck by that. They saw the striped clothes and knew that they bombed the prisoners.
We had to go through sanitation. We took the shower. They shaved us bold. Our clothes were taken away and we were given striped prisons’ clothing. Then we were taken to the barrack, where there were no bunks. We had to lie down on the floor, very close to each other. Every morning we had to get up very quickly, find the boots as they were in one pile. Then run out from the barracks being beaten and shouted at the policemen who were waiting by the barrack with the clubs. There was a roll call in the yard, after which we were given a piece of bread. It was good lump of bread. We were given such in ghetto. Then we had lunch- a thick soup in metal can. We had neither spoons nor forks. If we were lucky, we could find some chip to eat with. If we could not find it, we lapped it up right from the can, like dogs. The policemen teased us turning the can upside down and observing us eating the soup from the ground. In the evening we were given weak tea. That was the last meal of the day and we fell asleep without knowing what was there for us tomorrow. During the day were taken outside and sorted - those who did something wrong (walked and stood improperly) were taken aside and placed in gas chamber. Gas chambers could not idle. Usually people arriving from the East went there. At that time railroad was heavily bombed by soviet army and the carriages were not coming on time, so they had to put camp prisoners in the chambers. We were willing to survive even more than at the beginning of war as we understood that the victory of the soviet army was coming. At times we had to be at the drill square for three/ four hours. We learnt how to march even better than soldiers. We had stayed in Auschwitz for two weeks, which seemed like months to us.
In early August 1944 we were put in the carriages and taken to the west. We did not know exactly where we were heading. The only thing we knew that ghetto was evacuated to work in Germany. Germans assured us that we were going to work in Germany and our plants and factories would be evacuated along with us. It was really warm and stuffy in the cars. There was no water, we had to relieve ourselves straight in the corner of the cars. The Germans who were escorting us gave bread to those who was hungry. We took the bread but could not eat it in such a heat. We could not wait to see the end of this trip. Mother had been constantly praying, asking God for us. In several days the car stopped, the door opened and they ousted us from the car. There were policemen in two lines outside. All of them were armed with clubs. They had us walk towards the columns of the policemen beating us black and blue. Some people fell failing to reach the columns of the policemen. In couple of minutes we had such an ardent pain, that we stopped thinking of our future. I supposed we even were not looking like human beings. Those who passed through the column of policemen were lined up in two columns- men and women separately and started sorting. Young and relatively healthy people were put in one column and elderly, sick and ‘unwanted’ people were lined up in another column. The only thing mother managed to cry out was: «Children, stay together. I am so lean!» My poor mother got right away that they were to face death. Those were the last words of my mother. Only 300 people (including me and my brother) out of 5 thousand of those who arrived in Auschwitz, were taken to the camp. We saw mother and other people getting on special trucks. They were burnt in crematorium the same day.
They took my father during one of the actions of 1944. We did not know what happened with him and considered him to be dead. In August 1944 we felt that fascists were having problems in the war, judging by their behavior. In actuality, soviet army [12] was at Visla in front of Warsaw. Evacuation of ghetto began. Every day there were announcement regarding evacuation of certain streets. Brother and I thought hard how to make it so that we would not leave with the others, but stay in the city. We knew that the Soviet army was on its way, but there was no chance to wait for liberation in our native city.
We are what we could get. We got some kind of gruels by food cards. At times we got semi-rotten vegetables. We were given tainted horse-flesh for couple of times. My mother was very ingenious and could concoct some dishes for us. These were horrible years, nevertheless it was my adolescent and part of my life. There were good days as well. I had friends, with whom I had a good time. I worked at the factory and gradually I became a tailor, which became useful in my life later on. In spring 1942 I and some more young people were called in Judenrat. We were suggested to make a charity dinner, and the money raised there would go for canteen for ghetto inhabitants. Strange as it may be but we managed to succeed in that- verses were recited, Jewish and Polish songs were sung and of course dancing. Those ghetto inhabitants who still had money attended that evening. There were cabmen, ladies of the most ancient profession etc. All collected money went to the fund of the future canteen and some people even gave their ration there. I have one very precious thing- the picture made during that evening. My brother and I including ghetto as well as other young people who took care of the organization of that event, were in that picture. One lady Franya managed to keep that photo, but cut the place, where she was in the picture. She was afraid if someone found the picture, she could be shot, but she managed to take the picture out of ghetto and save. I got it in many years after war when I was in Israel in the 1990s. At that time I met the son of one of my comrades from ghetto. He kept it like an apple of his eye and then gave that photo to me.
As a rule, Germans wanted to get rid of the ballast – old people, children, disabled and feelings, i.e. those who were incapacitated to work and bring the benefits to Reich. The most dreadful action was the execution of children, when mothers were preliminary warned that they were supposed to bring their children. There were women on ghetto streets leading their kids to death. The children were dressed up – in lacy dresses, having nice bands. Ladies gave their children to policemen, who shoved them in the car making ladies go nuts instantly. I remember one lady singing a wedding song and dancing after she had given her daughter to the policemen. I do not know what happened to those demented ladies. They were most likely killed the same day. There were several children actions during existence of the ghetto. Sick people were also killed. There was a hospital in ghetto, but nobody left it. Trucks stopped by its gate, the sick people got in that and taken in unknown direction. That is why people in ghetto tried not to get sick. If they did, they were concealing it. There were frequent deaths in ghetto. I do not remember a single day, when there were no defunct taken out of the houses. People were buried in Jewish cemetery, which was located on the territory of the ghetto. There was also the largest synagogue on its territory. I do not remember my parents go anywhere during the occupation. They tried not to attract attention and prayed at home. People were struck by the variety of actions against Jews. It seemed to them it was not interesting for them to merely kill the Jews and they thought of certain performances. Once, there was an announcement that ghetto would be closed down for couple of days for disinfection. People got out of ghetto, but my parents decided that we all should stay in. All those who left ghetto, never came back. They were taken somewhere in the trucks waiting by the gates.
Jews made almost the third of the population of the prewar Lodz. The total number reached 300 thousand people. They were almost in all districts of the city, but the better half of them was concentrated in one district. Our apartment was in the heart of Jewish district, on the street call Zhydovskaya. At that time the word ‘kike’ was not an insult in Poland it was just the name for a Jew. There were a lot of stores, chandleries and workshops in this street. Most of the Jews here were craftsmen and salesmen. There were stores in almost every house. Poles from other districts preferred to buy groceries in Jewish stores - kosher or not.
Work did not interfere with her main purpose- she gave birth and raised four sons. The first-born Moishe was born in 1914 on the eve of the first world war, during which our family and close relatives stayed in Lodz as well as many other Jews, considering Germans to be quite positive. They thought that Germans had a good attitude to Jews, bought different goods and products from them. Of course some people were killed in action, but practically nothing changed for peaceful citizen, including Jewish population. Another evidence for that is that my brother Isaac was born in 1917, when the World War One was in the full swing. The twins were born on 16 January 1925. I was the older one. My brother Benjamin came into world 15 minutes later.
My mother Ella Rozenblum was born in 1886 in Lodz. She finished elementary Jewish school and couple of classes of lyceum. Judging by the fact that my elder brother was born in 1914, my parents were married in 1913. I do not know how they met: whether it was arranged by shadhans or they met in the company of some Jewish people. Parents did not have their own house. They rented an apartment, where we were born and spent our childhood and adolescence. Mother was considered literate for those times. She could read and write in Yiddish and Polish. Moreover, she was multitalented. She was actually in charge of quilt making workshop. She was the one who created the patterns, she controlled the quality. She was a pretty good administrator. Father was responsible for purchase of necessary raw materials, equipment and for the sale of the end product as he had the contacts, who owned the stores, where the quilts, produced by our family, were sold.
Mother’s elder sister Ruzha, born in Lodz 1882 was carpet mender. She married a merchant Moishe. She gave birth to two children- son Meer and daughter Freidl. In the 1930s Meer and Freidl were fond of Zionistic [5] ideas of foundation of the Jewish state and left for Palestine. In 1936 Ruzha and Moishe followed their children and also went to Palestine. Ruzha died in the 1960s and Meer and Freidl are currently living in Israel.
I remember mother’s brothers-Hiller and Eizek. Both of them were furriers. They had families. Hiller and his family vanished during the first days of occupation. They most likely became one of the first victims of the occupants. Eizek and his wife also perished. Eizek’s children- Yurek and Telya survived all ghetto atrocities and lived to see liberation. When the war was over, they went to Lodz. Neighbors opened the door and let them in. Then at night some armed people came to take them. Nobody knows who those people were, either punitive army, or the soldiers of Armia Krajowa [4]. What happened to Yurek and Telya remains unknown.
Poland
There were a lot of children in the family. All of them were given elementary education. Then boys became apprentices of the best furrier in the city. Fur business was lucrative and mother’s brothers became famous furriers. I remember her youngest brother Nohim, who was born in 1900. He was married to Genya. They had a son, born in early 1930s. When the Great Patriotic War was unleashed and the city was occupied, some Jews were taken in other cities. Nohim happened to be in some small town, where he became the chairman of Juderat [3] of the local ghetto. As per Nohim’s request his family was taken to the same town. Judenrat members counted on that fascists would be lenient with them. When ghetto was liquidated, all Judenrat members were also executed, including uncle Nohim and his family.
Poland
Apart from reading Torah, which usually took several hours, we had tea and pastries, which grandmother cooked exceptionally well. Being a boy, I did not stay in for a long time, willing to go out with my friends. Sabbath evenings in grandfather’s place is embossed in my memory for ever. I often wished I could paint that wonderful idyllic picture. I also remember the following episode. Grandfather was a smoker and since smoking was forbidden on Sabbath it was a real ordeal for him. I remember once he was standing by the window looking out for a first star to appear in the sky to light his Saturday cigarette. Grandparents died in late 1930s. First grandpa died and then in less than a year grandmother did. Fortunately, she had not lived to see fascist occupation.
She tried her best to cook for Sabbath. On Saturday both of them went to the synagogue – grandfather, a tall handsome man with a long beard, in winter wore a large fur hat and in summer a hat or a kipah and grandmother wore a wig, laced cape and a dressy outfit. As a rule after the service in synagogue the kin used to get together in the drawing room in grandfather’s house. There was cholnt and other Sabbath dishes on the table. I still remember their taste. After having meal grandfather used to sit in the arm-chair, surrounded by sons and sons-in-law. He took Torah, read it and explained every other word to children. He was a very literate man, and could truly interpret Torah.
Grandmother Noma was a housewife. She never went to work. She took care of household and children. Grandparents rented a large apartment in Lodz Jewish district near the largest synagogue. There were two furnished rooms. The furniture was nice and solid, though it was not luxurious. There was a large stove in the center of the kitchen, where grandmother cooked.
My maternal grandparents, born in Lodz in the 1860s were rather well-heeled. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the name of my maternal grandfather. His last name was Rosenblum. It was my mother’s maiden name. My grandfather was considered to be a fabricant, though there were only two workers there, including him. Nevertheless, it brought stable income. The factory was located in special premises, where cotton-wool making machine was installed. It was operated in two shifts. I think that was the reason why parents started going in for quit sewing business. That was the reason for establishing the so-called family business.
Father had a rather stable business. There was a workshop at home, where six women worked under father’s supervision. Mother was in charge of them. They sewed quilts for sale. The quits were given to the store, which paid us money when they were sold. It was a rather stable income, though it was not very big. It was the so-called family business, ran by parents. I do not know what my father did for a living before getting married. As I said our family had a strict morale, so I even did not think of asking father about his previous life.
My father Shlema Kuyavskiy was born in Lodz in 1884. He went to cheder in his childhood as it was customary for the families of righteous Jews. He did not go on with his education. He learnt the rudiments of reading and writing, which was enough to run his business. Father made all calculations in pencil at the door jamb. Every Friday we witnessed one and the same scene. Mother wiped out father’s notes from the door while cleaning the house before Sabbath and father indignantly would cry out, «Oh my God, what have you done. I will go bust», reproaching her that he would not know who owned him. Mother calmly replied that he could start his calculations next week. Father cooled down until next Friday. Then the story started all over again.
My family got in touch with father’s sister Chava more than with Shmuel. Her husband died long before the outbreak of war and Chava lived close by with her daughter Edya. Chava died in ghetto [2] during occupation and Edya managed to survive it. When Great Patriotic War was over she happened to be in Canada, where she married an American Jew. She is still alive and healthy.
Poland
Grandfather had many children, but by the time when I started perceiving my surroundings, there were not many of them- some of them died. Others left for America and Canada looking for better life. I only remember father’s brother and sister. Father’s brother Shmuel Kuyavskiy, who was about two years older than he, owned a grocery store in Lodz. He was a well-heeled man and did not think much about us as we were his poor relatives. We were not trying to impose ourselves. Everybody had his own life. I saw his wife and daughters couple of times. I do not remember their names.
My father’s parents lived close by, but I did not see them very often. I do not remember my grandparents treat me very tenderly, give me a hug or a kiss. It was not only with me- at that time it was common to bring up children very strictly and it was very hard to get grandmother’s fondling. My father’s parents were born in Lodz in the 1860s. My grandfather’s name was Fishel Kuyavskiy. I cannot recall my grandmother’s name. She died in 1930,when I was a baby. I just remember that she looked like a lean, petite old lady. She always wore a wig, dark skirt and blouse. Grandpa Fishel also resembled most of elderly Jews- the denizens of our street- not tall, humpty old man with a hat. I remember that grandparents’ had a one-room apartment with a small corridor where grandmother cooked food. I think that grandfather was a craftsman, not a rich one to boot, barely scraping through. When he grew old (at that time 60-year old was considered an old man), grandpa was afflicted with cataract. He was almost blind, and all he could do was pray day in, day out. He often held his prayer book upside down being mocked by his numerous grandchildren. When grandmother died and Fisher stopped working, he lived with his children by turns. He stayed either with his sons, or with his daughter. Grandpa was so religious as it was accepted in Jewish circles at that time- he observed kashrut, Sabbath,went to the synagogue almost every day, when his health permitted. Fisher died at the beginning of 1939 being lucky not to have known all that atrocity that Jews underwent in occupied Poland [1].
My name is Meer Kuyavskis. I was born in a large Polish city Lodz [about 130 km from Warsaw], nee Kuyavskiy. Lodz was then the second largest city in Poland, its industrial and commercial center. Before Second World War its Jewish community was considered to be the second largest in Europe after Warsaw community. It numbered 300 thousand Jews. There were a lot of synagogues in the city, as well as Jewish schools, cheders, Jewish hospitals. There was a fully-fledged Jewish life. As a rule, Jews dealt with commerce- from small-scale up to a large-scale. There were a lot of Jewish stores in our and adjacent blocks. Small grocery stores were in almost every house.
Dobre Rozenbergene
In a while one of our acquaintances from Jurbarkas came. She wanted to find out about her kin. She saw our living conditions. She also didn’t have that much space, but she invited us to come with her. There was a rather large room, though it was also densely populated. We were given a corner: a quarter of the entire square. There was a bed by the wall, where Grandmother and I slept, Leya slept on the mattress on the floor. The hostess with her nine-year-old grandson and a daughter-in-law were in front of us. Besides, a young schizophrenic girl was also in the room. She hardly ate anything and barely got up. She was executed during one of the first actions.
Grandmother and Leya lived in a poky room of about four meters. It used to be a warehouse of the local synagogue. Grandmother’s sister Braina and her husband rabbi Montse had lived here. They let Grandmother and Leya stay there. When the two of them were there they could manage somehow, when I came there was no room to swing a cat. I was sick in the first days. I had a nervous breakdown and was covered with furuncles all over. I was treated by rabbi Montse. He gave me something to drink and made poultices. We were afraid to call a doctor as it was widely known that there was no mercy for the sick: they put them out of their misery right away. Now I learnt what it was to be famished. I had nothing to eat.