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ITZHAK GRINBAUM AND AHARON BECKER - PILLARS OF ZIONISM IN PLOTZK
In his essay "The Jews in Plotzk", I. Grinbaum, formerly a leader of Polish Jewry and first Minister of the Interior of Israel, describes how a Zionist youth-group was founded in Plotzk at the end of the 19th century. That group was named "Mazkeret Shmuel", in honor of Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever, a famous leader of the religious wing of the Zionist movement.
I. Grinbaum, and A. Becker (from Lithuania) who had settled in Plotzk, were the founders and initiators of that group. The latter became soon leader of the younger generation, on which he exerted great influence.
The above-mentioned "Hamelitz" dedicates a special review to that event and mentions the obligation undertaken by members of the group to pay between 10 and 25 "kopeikas" (Russian coin) every month.
The same periodical published an article at the beginning of this century from which we learn that the local Zionists earnestly endeavored to assume responsibility for the affairs of the Jewish community (Kehila) in accordance with the Zionist aim and slogan of "Kibbush Hakehilot" (Conquest of the Communities).
THE PRE-ZIONIST EPOCH OF NAHUM SOKOLOV
The great Zionist leader and famous Hebrew journalist and writer Nahum Sokolov was brought up in Plotzk. Before he joined Zionist groups formally, and took part in manifold Zionist campaigns, there had been times when he dissociated himself from Zionism. This infor­mation is contained in an article published in another Hebrew periodical of those times, called "Hamaggid".
EDUCATION AND CULTURAL LIFE
Articles written by Nahum Sokolov are a faithful source for the reader who wishes to acquaint himself with the general trend and ideas of the younger Jewish generation of Plotzk, which at the end of the 19th century strove for the introduction of "general" studies side by side with Jewish studies. In his articles Nahum Sokolov describes the miserable conditions under which Jewish youth lived - without proper clothes, half-hungry, arguing with their parents about the necessity of general studies in order to change the depressing living conditions then prevailing in the Jewish communities.
Under the influence of the "Haskala" (Enlightenment) ideas, some families began to send their children to general secondary schools but had to fight for their right to do so with conservative groups who considered general education as the first step towards the repudiation of Judaism. The problem of writing on Sabbath-days hindered many parents, faithful to the Jewish religion, from sending their children to "general" schools.
We also find in these periodicals letters about the financial difficulties encountered by the Jewish community in maintaining its schools and paying the teachers' salaries. In order to overcome those difficulties - we learn from the "Hamelitz" - the communal leaders even agreed... to organize a theatre-show in order to collect some funds.
But in spite of the "Haskala" movement the rabbis were very popular with the general public and leaders of the community showed them great respect.
In the "Hamelitz" of 1890 we read an interesting story about a rabbi who successfully passed an examination in Russian. The periodi­cal adds that the examiners admired his "thorough knowledge of the Russian language".
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL WORK
An 1891 issue of the above periodical describes the growing poverty of the Jewish population and the necessity for overseas emigration. The retail merchants were forced to pay high interest for goods purchased on credit from wholesalers. A proposal was made to establish a wholesale store for the benefit of the retail merchants but for some unknown reasons this plan never materialized.
There existed in Plotzk a society whose members volunteered to visit sick people at the hospital as well as to distribute among them tea and sugar. The society "Bikur Holim" did a fine job in preventing a typhus epidemic in 1867.
Artisans were organized in various professional unions who aimed at rendering social aid to members.
In another issue of "Hamelitz" we read about a legacy of a rich woman (5000 Russian rubles) for building an asylum for old people, unable to earn their living. The establishment of that institution was very important as from other sources we learn that in those days many Jews in Plotzk reached a very high age.
RELATIONS WITH POLISH NEIGHBOURS
Although there is no special evidence on anti-Jewish riots, we read about an incident which occurred during a Jewish funeral. Two Polish landowners barred the way of the mourners and did not let them enter the Jewish cemetery. As a result 30 Jews were injured. Fortunately, the district governor, who was friendly towards the Jews, helped them in restoring their rights to the cemetery.

A certain Niemski used in his book, while describing the beauty of the town, offending expressions with regard to the Jews of Plotzk and their way of life, calling them "a caravan of Gipsy-Jews" etc.

EMIGRATION
From many Polish towns a mass-emigration started at the end of the 19th century. Plotzk's part in that emigration (especially to the U. S. A.) was not considerable, because its Jewish inhabitants did not suffer in those days as much from anti-Semitic riots as Jewish communities in the Ukraine and Bessarabia.
Not far from Plotzk two important industrial centers, Warsaw and Lodz, attracted many jobless Jewish young people who tried to find employment as factory workers in those towns. This was not too easy because even Jewish industrialists were not always willing to employ them out of fear of negative reactions from Christian workers.
The Jewish emigrants had to sell all their belongings in order to be able to buy boat-tickets to the U. S. A. or to cover at least their travel-expenses to Berlin. Their sufferings on the way to America, not having any hope to earn their living where they were born - are described in the periodicals of that time.
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A perusal of the Hebrew press at the outset of the 20th century convinces us that the members of the Jewish community of Plotzk were among the first who adjusted themselves to the new era of Jewish national renaissance.

NAHUM SOKOLOV'S YOUTH

By Florian Sokolov

Page 36
The author, who is the son of the famous late Zionist leader Nahum Sokolov, describes his prominent father's youth in Plotzk.

It appears that young Sokolov was greatly influenced in his time by the Jewish atmosphere of the community, its youth, Jewish national movements, rabbis and centers of religious and secular education. Nahum Sokolov, throughout his life, even while a resident of great European capitals, remembered his childhood in Plotzk. In one of his letters to his daughter he reveals in nostalgic expressions his great affection for "his beloved Plotzk".
BEGINNINGS OF ZIONISM IN PLOTZK

By Itzhak Grinbaum

Page 36
The author, who was a leader of Polish Jewry before World War II and the first Minister of the Interior of the State of Israel, describes the period between the first and second Zionist Congresses, when the first Zionist group was organized in Plotzk. The author describes in this connection the various cultural activities as well as the disputes prevailing between Zionists and their opponents in the community. He mentions the names of local Zionist leaders and of personalities of the different groups ("Bund", Polish Socialist Party and others) with whom he maintained contacts during his political career. He portrays, among others, the life of Esther Golde, a woman fighting for socialism, who played an important role in the general Polish Socialist Movement and did not display any interest in Jewish problems. Grinbaum visited Plotzk after the war but found no Jews there.

The classical assumption that the disappearance of the Jews from the economic, cultural and social life of the town would create a vacuum did not come true.
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Itzhak Grinbaum was the Guest Speaker at a Memorial meeting of the Plotzk Association, which was held in 1951 in Tel Aviv. On this occasion he delivered a thoughtful speech, containing many remi­niscences of the town in which he spend nine years of study at the local gymnasium.
Mentioning the various cultural and educational institutions, he drew loving portraits of the teachers Shmuel Penson and A. Y. Pa­pierna, the revolutionary leader Josef Kwiatek and others, who left their imprint on the minds of the young generation, and thanks to whom the Jewish Youth in Plotzk became spiritually elevated and intellec­tually more broad-minded.

INAUGURATION OF THE JEWISH GYMNASIUM

By M. Zlotnik

Page 37
Excerpts from a booklet, published in 1917, which includes the speech delivered by the then rabbi of Plotzk, R' Yona Mordechai Zlotnik at the inauguration of the first Jewish secondary school in Plotzk.

The attitude shown by the above to general and secular Jewish education was at that time quite different from that of other rabbis. He understood the modern spirit of the Jewish youth well and knew that their assimilatory trends would not be checked by "Chadarim" and "Yeshivot" alone. For that reason Rabbi Zlotnik saw in the establish­ment of Jewish secondary schools a stronghold of Judaism. He deman­ded from his teachers' devotion to their extraordinary responsibilities. "We are now on the eve" said the rabbi, "of the establishment of Jewish secondary schools and you, the teachers, have to be pioneers in this field, and in the future you will be recognized for your work".
His speech contains a few sentiments directed to the Christian population. He explains that for the good of both Jews and Christians primary education should be separate because just as it is impossible to give Christian children a good Christian education in Jewish schools - Jewish religious education is possible only in schools established exclusively for Jewish children.
The late Rabbi Zlotnik expressed his hope that one day a Jewish central institute for higher education - a university - would be established. The rabbi expressed already then, in 1917, his longings for a Hebrew University to rise in Jerusalem.
He concluded his words to his pupils by expressing his hope that they would adapt themselves through the influence of the new school to the aim of returning to their homeland Eretz Israel.

MEMORIES OF THE PAST

By Shlomo Rozen

Pages 37-38

The author pays tribute to some personalities who lived in Plotzk at the beginning of the century, especially of the Chassidic circles. He describes their orthodox way of life, adherence to different Chassidic rabbis and their influence on that part of the younger generation which devoted itself to the study of Torah and its commentaries. He also mentions a famous cantor whose prayers, together with a choir, afforded the listeners great spiritual enjoyment.
The second chapter describes the various groups of Jewish orthodox youth who gathered in the local Beit Hamidrash. Some of those young people later became famous in Jewish life in Poland and elsewhere, among them Rabbi Zlotnik-Avida and others.
The third chapter is dedicated to the new ideas of progress, within both secular and religious Zionism, which shaped the ideologies of those young people. The author mentions the activities of Itzhak Grinbaum, Rabbi Lifshitz and others.
The second part of this article deals with the assimilationist groups of the Plotzk Jewish community (the Kempner family and others) and with the people who lived in the vicinity of the "Iron Gate" - a market place where simple folk (tailors, butchers, fishmongers) lived and worked. The author nostalgically describes these types of Jews, who added a special flavor to the multifaced Jewish population of Plotzk.

JEWISH PLOTZK DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

By Itzhak Tynski

Page 38
The author gives a survey of the pattern of life in Plotzk at the outbreak of the first World War. He describes in detail how the local Jewish population tried to maintain good relations with both fighting parties, the Russians and the Germans, in order to survive, but did not always succeed, since each party suspected the Jews of being on their enemy's side.

Another chapter deals with the life of the Jews under German occupation. The Germans permitted the Jews (in 1915) to restore commerce and industry which were ruined in the first year of war. Even cultural activities were permitted by the German authorities and the Jewish youth organized that year a special sports tournament. The generation of that period could not possibly foresee how the next meeting with the Germans (after 25 years) would look like...
The survey's third chapter describes conditions under the Polish regime which was hostile to the Jews and used every possible opportunity to act against them. The author mentions, inter alia, the tragic case of Rabbi Shapiro, who was sentenced to death and executed "for spying in favor of the Bolsheviks". This and other cases did a great deal to convince the Jewish population that they were living among hostile elements and that they would have to leave their "homeland" as soon as they could. Unfortunately, the Jews of Plotzk became fully convinced of that truth only too late...

THE PLOTZK JEWISH COMMUNITY BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD – WARS

1 9 1 8 - 1 9 39
COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS, SOCIAL WORK, ECONOMIC LIFE, NEIGHBOURHOOD RELATIONS

THE JEWISH KEHILA (COMMUNITY) OF PLOTZK

By Itzhak Ben-Shai (Fuchs)

Pages 40-41

This article carries the sub-title, "Memories of a Secretary", since its author served for two years as secretary of the Plotzk Kehila. As in other Polish towns, the Kehila was the representative Jewish body serving the religious, social and cultural needs of the Jewish inhabitants.
The Secretariat of the Kehila housed many records, among them documents of great historical value, since the Plotzk Jewish commu­nity had been in existence for no less than 700 years.
When entering office as secretary of the Kehila, the author dis­covered many of these documents and after perusing them he realized that the Plotzk Jewish community was one of the oldest in Poland. At that time - before the Second World War - he could not possibly imagine that in a few years time this ancient community would cease to exist. Referring to these documents, he describes the Jewish auto­nomous life before the First World War, during the German occu­pation - (1915-1918), and after the establishment of the independent Polish state.
Mentioning some names of personalities who played an important role in the community's life during the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century (like Salomon Bromberger, Moshe Lidzbarski, and Benyamin Golde); the author describes the first democratic elections to the Kehila in free Poland. Three blocks took part in those elections Zionists (with "Mizrahi"), the Orthodox groups ("Agudat Yisrael") and the Independents. Two other groups (Zionists-Socialists and "Bund") did not put up lists. The elections-campaign was very stormy. Both the Zionists and the Orthodox devoted all their resources and energies to secure a majority of seats, but neither succeeded. Both attained an equal number of seats and the third group (Indepen­dents) turned out to be the strongest by getting more votes than each of the two other groups. The Kehila Committee was, therefore, com­posed of a coalition between the Zionists and the Independents. Two prominent Zionists were put in charge of important Kehila depart­ments.
The author reports on the development of the Kehila, its social, religious and cultural activities, not ignoring the conflicts between several groups inside and outside that institution, which at times almost paralyzed the activities of the Jewish autonomous body. The election of a town rabbi always created differences of opinion. The Zionist block was constantly faced by Agudat Yisrael efforts to oust them and the fight for rule of the Kehila took very often unbecoming forms. A campaign was at one time led by the extreme Orthodox against a Zionist candidate. They informed the government that the candidate was anti-religious and caused "profanation" of religious feelings. Such means of political strife and stride undermined the prestige of the Jewish community and caused anguish to all concerned.
The anti-Zionist workers' party "Bund" denounced Zionism and gained influence among members of the Jewish working class. At that time the Zionist workers' groups had little influence in town.
The author pays special attention to the struggle between several groups and parties for influence in the Jewish community of Plotzk. In many instances the authorities, by law, served as mediators. The Zionists regarded governmental intervention as degrading, in view of the anti-Jewish feelings of many government officials. In the thirties the author went to Eretz Israel but did not severe his contacts with his native town. He reports on the last elections to the Kehila, held in 1939, about half a year before the outbreak of war.
A new consolidated group took then part in the elections-campaign: the "Poalei Zion" (the counterpart of "Mapai" in Poland of that period) and its local leader, the beloved Fishl Fliderblum, was elected the last chairman of the Jewish community.
The author emphasizes that all former members of the Kehila, who were forced during the Nazi regime to cooperate with the invaders had always done their best to help their brethren as much as they could.
In the first part of the article the author mentions his grandfather Reb Tuvia Plotzker, who is considered the first immigrant from Plotzk to the Holy Land. He came to Palestine in 1875, died in Jerusalem and was buried on the Mount of Olives. His grandson visited his grave in the years before the establishment of the State of Israel, when access to that cemetery was still possible.

THE JEWISH HOSPITAL

By Abraham Shmueli (Plutzer)

Page 41-42

The Jewish Hospital was founded in the seventies of the 19th century with a donation by the Fogel family. It was confiscated by the Germans during the first World War, but later on - in 1926 - reopened by the Jews of Plotzk.
The Hospital contained 35 beds, a surgery, an out-patients' clinic, etc, and was held in high esteem by both the Jewish and non-Jewish inhabitants of Plotzk.
The hospital's food was strictly Kosher, and it therefore enjoyed great popularity among the orthodox Jewish population. The hospital contributed a great deal to the state of health in town and even Christian patients did their utmost to be hospitalized there in case of need.
The Nazis liquidated the hospital's Jewish staff and converted it into a station for infectious diseases. Jewish doctors and nurses con­tinued to help patients and even hid some leaders of the community, who were sought by the. Nazis, within the hospital confines.
The building was finally closed in 1940 and its patients trans­ferred to the Old People Asylum at Dobrzynska Street.

EZRAT HOLIM

page 42
"Ezrat Holim" (help for the sick) - was a voluntary philanthropic organization, whose members were a group of socially-minded Jews who regarded it as their religious duty to extend assistance to sick people in their homes, as well as in hospital.

They regularly visited the sick, helped them financially, en­couraged and treated them. Shows and other festivities were organized in order to collect a budget for their activities. "Their attention did sometimes more to heal the sick than the medical care of the physi­cians" - wrote one of the then famous journalists about the members (of "Ezrat Holim" who came from all parts of the community: Orthodox, European-clad, rich and poor Jews. The idea which united them was to help their sick fellow-Jews.
THE JEWISH ORPHANAGE ("OCHRONKA")

By Gustav Puk

Page 42
The author, who was a pupil of the above institute, describes its activities since the first years after World War I. He mentions with great appreciation and affection several ladies who headed the orpha­nage, which housed 32-36 children and was financed by "Joint", and "Toz". In spite of its limited resources, the children were always kept clean and enjoyed summer vacations. After they completed their elementary studies there, everything was done to enable them to study in vocational and high schools.

The author specially mentions Mrs. Paulina Altberg, who devoted her life to the well-being of the children and symbolized by her activities and devotion the real Jewish mother.
Only five ex-pupils of the orphanage survived, three of them live in Israel, one in Poland and one in Russia.

The author of this article, was an officer of the Polish army, was one of the liberators of Plotzk.

COOPERATIVE BANKS AND TRADE UNIONS

By I. G. Chanachowicz (Kent)

Page 43
Three cooperative banks existed in Plotzk until the outbreak of the war in 1939: a general bank, a commercial bank and a credit bank.

The first one was established after World War I when the economic position of many citizens became very difficult. The bank assisted small merchants and artisans with long-term loans to re­establish themselves after the war years. Its activities expanded owing to the financial help of the "Joint" organization, which invested considerable funds in the bank.
The Commercial Bank was established in 1927 and enjoyed the confidence of both Jews and non-Jews in Plotzk and surroundings. Its saving plans became popular and many Jews deposited their savings "for a rainy day" in it. Unfortunately that day came sooner than they imagined. The Nazis invaded Plotzk and confiscated the bank's funds and property.
The Credit Bank - was active among orthodox Jews. It is worth mentioning that all its officials wore orthodox garments. This bank cooperated with the Commercial Bank.
Several smaller financial institutions also existed in Plotzk, one of them was the "Rogozik Bank", founded by Rogozik, who was called the "Plotzk Rothschild". A "Gmilut Hessed" fund (an institution granting interest free loans) helped merchants and artisans to over­come many crises. This institution was managed for many years by Abraham Levin.
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Most of Plotzk's Jewish workers were organized in trade unions, such as the Tailors, Transport workers (coachmen and porters), Clerks, Shop attendants and other unions.

They persuaded the employers to agree to an 8 hour working-day and other social demands. Special Jewish trade unions were a neces­sity under the circumstances, as the Polish unions were notoriously reluctant to accept Jewish members.

Several strikes were proclaimed by the unions in the years preceding the Second World War, as a result of which the working class established itself as a factor in the town's economic life.
The Jewish trade unions also contributed a lot to the cultural life of Jewish workers, who were deprived of education because of poverty, through evening-courses, etc. They comprised workers of all parties, of whom "Bund" was the strongest one. Later on, the "Poalei Zion" faction organized the coachmen, and gained considerable influence.
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THE SMALL TRADERS ORGANIZATION

By Joseph Malonek

Page 44
An organization of Jewish small traders was founded in Plotzk in 1935. Till then they belonged to the general merchants organization, but the anti-Semitic character of some Polish groups which called on the population to boycott Jewish shops, compelled them to form their own Jewish organization.

Its members were granted loans on easy terms from a special fund for that purpose, called "Gmilut Hassadim".
The organization carried out its functions in times of widespread poverty, when many shops were closed by their owners. The last session of its committee took place three days after the Nazi invasion, when the remaining cash was divided among the community's poor shopkeepers.
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