Grodzka Gate, 1930
everyday life of the Jewish women in the pre-war Lublin
This booklet was published as a part of the project ‘Everyday life of Jewish Women in pre-war Lublin’ in co-operation with Sport and Tourism Department of the city of Lublin. Realization: HerStory Foundation Editor: Lena Bielska Revision: Anna Siek Translation to English: Sylwia Wodzińska Project in the tourism and touring was possible thanks to the financial support of the city of Lublin.
HerStory Foundation www.fundacjaherstory.org Lublin Herstoric Archive www.archiwumherstoryczne.pl Lubelskie Szlaki HerStoryczne
ISBN 978-83-947191-0-4 ISBN 978-83-947191-0-4
9 788394 719104
Lubartowska 29 str., 1938
Brief outline of everyday life of the Jewish community in the pre-war Lublin
Before World War II
broke, 42.000 Jews constituted 35% of Lublin’s inhabitants. The community settled mostly in Wieniawa (a town that was incorporated into Lublin’s municipality in 1916), in the Kalinowszczyzna and in the old town adjacent to the Castle where the old Jewish neighborhood was located. This area (nowadays, among others, grounds adjacent to the Castle and Castle Square), inhabited by Lublin Jews, constituted the poorest part of the city and lacked proper sewage and electricity systems. Water was drawn from wells and purchased by the bucket. One of the wells was located at the beginning of Szeroka Street, a main passageway below the Castle, and another at a present-day bus station – the well has been preserved up until now and is the last remaining relic of the Jewish neighborhood of pre-war Lublin. Szeroka Street used to be the heart of the old Jewish neighborhood. „Trade unions and political parties, with heated discussions on the superiority of Zionism over communism or vice versa, had their headquarters next to synagogues and houses of prayers. Szeroka Street saw many parades of Jewish organizations. This part of Lublin was unknown to many – Lublin’s terra incognita. Many of Lublin’s Christians would never frequent Szeroka Street. Similarly, 1 many Jewish inhabitants of Szeroka would never wander around Krakowskie Przedmieście.” Another part inhabited by Orthodox and assimilated to a lesser extent was bailey where many Jewish men and women did not speak Polish. Their everyday language was Yiddish and Hebrew, the language of prayer, known and used only by men. Jewish women in pre-war Lublin would speak Yiddish and, in the case of assimilated families, Polish. Until 1862 Lublin was under royal privilege called de non tolerandis Judaeis, by the power of which Jews could not settle within the city walls. Brama Żydowska (Jewish Gate, presently: Brama Grodzka) was a place of symbolic meaning, dividing the Jewish from the Christian world.
“After 1862 Szeroka Street started to decay. The richest Lublin Jews moved to the Old Town and Krakowskie Przedmieście, taking with them their businesses. Szeroka grew poorer and poorer. There remained some shops and craftsman establishments but they were usually owned by the 2 lower class”.
Old jewish district in Lublin (destroyed in 1942-1944), 1920-1930
In the Christian part of the Old Town lived mainly assimilated, well-educated and rich Jews, as for instance Franciszka Arnsztajnowa with her husband Marek Arnsztajn, the famous doctor and social-political activist. The Ajnsztajns lived in the same house at Złota Street where Hanna Krall spent the early years of her life. The building at 28 Szeroka Street housed also the Hassidic synagogue of ha-Chose of Lublin. It is worth mentioning that the bailey was the neighborhood with the main Hassidic centers in Lublin. The headquarters of the Jewish community (Lublin’s rabbinate and rabbinic court) were located in the building located at 8 Rynek from the late 19th century up until 1941. Besides bailey, Piaski, Kalinowszczyzna and Wieniawa, Jews settled in Śródmieście (after 1862), mainly along Lubartowska Street, and in Wzgórze Czwartek. A Jewish hospital, built in 1886 thanks to funds from the international Jewish community, was located at Lubartowska Street. It was one of the best-equipped and functioning hospitals in Lublin with a great gynecological and obstetric ward. Adjacent to the hospital was Lublin Yeshiva, one of the best rabbinic school in the world at the time. Established in 1930 by Majer Jehuda Szpire, the Talmudic school attracted students from across the world.
1. R. Kuwałek, Ulica Szeroka, której nie ma, http://www.jemlublin.pl/robert-kuwalekulica-szeroka-ktorej-nie-ma-robercie-ciebie-nie-ma-juz-tez/ 2. Tamże
there were a few jewish cemeteries
in pre-war Lublin. One of them was the so-called Old Jewish Cemetery in Wieniawa, established in the 16th century and probably the oldest Jewish necropolis in Poland (presently located on the ground of bus station). Another example could be the new Jewish cemetery established in 1829, which was almost completely destroyed during World War 2 and revitalized after the war (located in Kalinowszczyzna). One of the most popular symbols on the tombstones of women is candle or candle holder.
„The oldest symbol of death, a candle is also a symbol of the soul. Candles are carved on women’s tombstones as lighting and blessing Shabbat candles are duties of a Jewish woman and so it is one of the oldest symbols on women’s tombs. It signifies also godliness. Broken candles or extinguished 3 candles symbolize gone life”.
3. Soursce: Symbolika żydowskiej sztuki nagrobnej, https://fodz.pl/ PP/download/symbolika_zydowskiej_sztuki_nagrobnej.pdf.
Religious life - outline of women's situation
Additionally, a grapevine carved on a woman’s tombstone symbolizes fertility. Musical instruments on the other hand connect to the female name Miriam. Traditionally, women and men would be buried in separate tombs. However, at Orthodox cemeteries there would be two separate sections for men and women. Up until the War there were a dozen temples and synagogues and more than forty houses of prayer, mostly private. At 24 Lubartowska Street existed a ritual bath house for Jewesses, to which they frequented after menstruation or before marriage. Synagogues have been divided into two parts: a bigger one for men and a smaller for women in which women would pray, sing psalms and chat about everyday issues. Going to a synagogue was never a duty for a woman as the following were her three primary duties: lighting Shabbat candles and blessing them in the evening, dividing challah bread and taking ritual baths after menstruation. A birth of a girl for an Orthodox Jewish family oftentimes meant mourning for which sometimes the windows of the family’s house would be covered by curtains. A girl meant an unnecessary burden as her family would have to find a husband for her in the future and support her financially. A son, on the other hand, would offer support to the family, could study holy scriptures and deepen his wisdom which (although never banned) did not belong to the privileges or duties of a Jewish woman. Interestingly enough, in many very religious households, families often relied financially on women so that husbands could focus on their religious studies. It’s important to emphasize the fact that in Judaism, a person’s Jewish status is maternally inherited. Thus, a child of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother in the vast majority of cases is considered a goy or a non-Jew. Therefore, the survival of the people depends on Jewesses. Orthodox Jewish women are to be modest and dress in a way in which their entire bodies, without using stark colors, is covered. Moreover, Orthodox Jewesses usually shave their heads and wear Kosher wigs.
Trade and craftsmanship
Nadstawna str., 1917-1925
One of the biggest
Jewish markets was the Świętoduska market square, liquidated in 1942. Many trade women sold there a wide assortment of goods, from comestibles and clothes to small household objects. There was also a printing house located by the square and the market contained many craft stands such as a glazier, roofer, shoemaker, tailor, feldsher (‘field surgeon’) and others. These professions were largely male-dominated or closed to women who usually traded craft goods made by their husbands and fathers or comestibles. Another field in which women were professionally active was education.
”Where stairs connecting Castle Square and Grodzka Street stand today, there existed a schlock market. One could buy there second-hand clothes and shoes but also Jewish pastries and delicacies made by Jewish women such as makagigi (caramel-honey pastry), hot beans or bubelach, a baked delicacy typical 4 of Lublin, now forgotten, made from buckwheat flour, served warm with butter”.
4. Source: R. Kuwałek, Ulica Szeroka, której już nie ma, http://www.jemlublin.pl/ robert-kuwalek-ulica-szeroka-ktorej-nie-ma-robercie-ciebie-nie-ma-juz-tez/
Lubartowska str., 1920-1925
Other Jewish markets were located at Ruska Street and in Kalinowszczyzna. Jewish bakeries were famous for cebularz (onion rolls), bagels and a variety of sweet rolls. These pastries one could also get from Jewesses selling them on, among others, Lubartowska Street, Kowalska Street, Furmańska Street or Cyrulicza Street.
Culture and leisure
E. Hartwig, Tradeswomen in Lublin, 1937
In the
30s’ Sienna Street was a house to Lublin’s first Jewish broadcasting center which unfortunately could not develop further due to the outbreak of war. Only in 1945 did the Polish Radio hosted programming in Yiddish, which featured a famous Jewish artist from Warsaw, Diana Blumenfeld (who survived the Warsaw ghetto and Majdanek concentration camp).
„Ha-Zomir Musical-Theatrical Association was established in early 1907 in Lublin. The association would organize concerts and shows in order to popularize Jewish music and literature and to support young Jewish artists. The shows would take place at the Pateon Theatre (earlier called Makowski Theatre and later Rodakiewicz Theatre) at 20 5 Jezuicka Street and at the Rusałka Summer Theatre”. During the interwar period, the theatre, having moved to Jezuicka Street, hosted such renowned Jewish female artists as Ester Rachel Kamińska, her daughter Ida Kamińska or Dina Halpern. Interestingly enough, according to many Orthodox Jews, theatre was but a hotbed for debauchery. In 1937 Bundu, an initiative of socialist Jewish organizations, built the Icchok Lejb Perec Jewish Culture Center at 16 Szkolna Street, equipped with a library of 50 000 books, a theatre stage and cinema. The opening ceremony was scheduled for 1939 but never took place due to the outbreak of war. After 1945 this building became the headquarters of the Jewish Committee, hosted a Jewish primary school and a shelter for Holocaust survivors. When it comes to everyday entertainment, it is important to note that from 1918, Lubliner Tugblat, a Yiddish newspaper, was published containing city anecdotes and crime stories. Lublin had the biggest number of Hebrew publishing houses in Poland. The upper-class Jewish community could afford more entertainment and leisure options while the lower-class Jewish children would often listen to stories and legends told by adults or play games such as drejdel, a four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters. 5. Teatr Żydowski w Lublinie, http://www.sztetl.org.pl/pl/article/lublin/8,oswiata-i-kultura/46887,teatr-zydowski-w-lublinie
Education
The first governmental schools
, also for girls, were established in Poland in 19th century. Jewish schools were run by assimilation activists. The first private schools were also established and students were usually girls, given their high rate of illiteracy. Jewish girls would also study the basics of religion at home. This, however, was not obligatory for girls, as it was for boys who attended cheders, Jewish schools. Girls could also study religion at Bais Yaakov schools. The majority of cheders for boys were located at Nadstawna Street. In Lublin many girls attended secular schools:
„Girls from wealthy homes could study under the auspices of the governess Lea Mandelkernowa. Others attended public gymnasia. Their education would often end after graduation as their parents then decided on their marriage to a religious Jew. Daughters who didn’t abide would be excluded from the family. That was the case of Bela Szpiro, a Bundu socialist movement activist. Her marriage with Szyffer, a Chassid from Opole Lubelskie, was arranged. She abandoned him after a few years and started advocating for social change. Her father disowned her and severed contact with her forever. It was only her mother who never broke her relationship with her daughter. Situations as such rarely took place until World War 2. Despite strong pressure from religious traditionalists, there were a few well-educated Jewesses in 6 Lublin, the most famous of whom was Malwina Meyerson”. A mother of Franciszka Arnsztajnowa, she was regarded as one of the few Jewish suffragists in Lublin. Last but not least, there was a regional chapter of the Jewish Women’s Association in Lublin, which promoted education, social activism, philanthropy and ran shelters for women. One of the most renowned activists of the Association was Bela Dobrzyńska, also active in the Lublin Zionist Organization.
6. Ślady Żydów lubelskich, https://www.bryk.pl/wypracowania/historia/ciekawostki
other life shades of Jewesses in Lublin
During the interval period,
the number of Jewish prostitutes in Lublin rose as result of high demand for prostitution from men and the deep poverty of some Jewish families. Many of the Jewish prostitutes came from the Lublin’s surrounding towns. Brothels employing Jewesses were located, among others, at Jezuicka Street, Bernandynska Street, Foksal Street, Przemysłowa Street and Fabryczna Street. Main streets frequented by the Jewish prostitutes were 1 Maja Street and Zamojska Street, as well as Old Town and Krakowska Gate according to Krystyna Mandelbaum (Modrzewska). Róża Fiszman-Sznajdman on the other hand remembers the surroundings of Rybny. Square to be especially crowded with women looking for clients.