Rena Margulies Chernoff - The Tailors of Tomaszow: A Memoir of Polish Jews
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Modern Jewish History
Robert A. Mandel, series editor
The Tailors of Tomaszow
The Tailors of Tomaszow
A MEMOIR OF POLISH JEWS
Rena Margulies Chernoff &Allan Chernoff
Texas Tech University Press
Copyright 2014 by Allan Chernoff
All rightsreserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by anymeans, including electronic stora ge and retrievalsystems, except by explicit prior written permission of the publisher. Briefpassages excerpted for review and critical purposes are excepted.
This book istypeset in Stemple Schneidler. The paper used in this book meets the minimumrequir ements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997).
Designed by KaseyMcBeath
Cover design by Barbara werden
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chernoff, RenaMargulies, 1933- author.
The tailors of Tomaszow : a memoir of Polish Jews / RenaMargul ies
Chernoff &Allan Chernoff.
pages cm (Modern Jewish history)
includes bibliographical references and index.
IS BN978-0-89672-876-9 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-89672-879-0
(paperback) IS BN 978-0-89672-880-6 (e-book) 1. Chernoff, Rena Margu lies, 1933- 2. JewsPolandTomaszow MazowieckiBiography.3. Jewish children in the HolocaustPolandTomaszow MazowieckiBiography. 4.Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)PolandTomaszow MazowieckiPersonal narratives.5. Tomaszow Mazowiecki (Poland)Biography. I.Chernoff,
Allan, 1959-author. II. Title.
DS134.72.C44A3 2014
940.53'180943843dc23
[B] 2013050924
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 / 9 8 7 6 5 43 2 1
Texas TechUniversity Press
Box 41037 I Lubbock, Texas 79409-1037 USA
800.832.4042 I
The use of imagesfrom the Tomaszow-Mazowiecki Yizkor Book is granted by Joseph Samuels, president of the UnitedBrothers of Tomaszow, and Joseph Tenebaum, member of the editorial board of the Tomaszow-Mazowiecki Yizkor Book.
We dedicate this book to HindaMargulies, mother and grandmother, Avram Chaim Margulies, father andgrandfather, and Romek Margulies, brother and uncle, who each displayedtremendous courage in confronting the ultimate evil, and to Benjamin Chernoff, husband and father, whose love, understanding,and compassion revived a life that was nearly destroyed.
Contents
Names of Tomaszowers
Dates of Interviews with Survivors
Illustrations
.
.
Preface
Allan Chernoff
Through mychildhood into my teenage years, I had a mutual protective conspiracy with mymother. From as early an age as I could know, I was aware that she was asurvivor of the Holocaust. Her Auschwitz tattoo num ber,A-15647, stared at me every day from her forearm. Butshe never talked about it. And I never asked. The large black-and-white photoframed in gold of a well-dressed tailor wearing a hat, overcoat, and a modestsmile, almost Mona Lisa-like, looked down on me every day from our living room wallthe grandfather after whom I was named and whomI had never met because he was killed during World War II. My mother nevertalked about it. And I never asked. She didn't tell for fear of traumatizingme. I didn't ask for fear of hurting her, wor riedthat my questions might force Mom to relive her trauma.
That is, until Ibecame an adult. Our mutual conspiracy ended when Mom attended a conference in1980 sponsored by the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors inWashington, D.C. Meeting and connect ing with other survivors of her generationthey were onlychildren during World War IIopened her up. When I saw she was ready andwilling to talk, I was prepared to pose questions, to seek details about herchildhood, family, hometown, and how they all weredestroyed during the war. Even tually, I encouragedMom to write down her history, which she did over many years, engaging inpainstaking research to confirm details, includ ingat the Auschwitz-Birkenau library and in her hometown Tomaszow- Mazowiecki in central Poland.
It wasn't onlyher experience I wanted to hear. So I interviewed as many of the last livingJewish survivors of Tomaszow-Mazowiecki as I could meet, many of whom weretailors.
Today just a fewof those surviving tailors remain alive. But withthis oral history the story of the tailors of Tomaszow continues to live.
Acknowledgments
First andforemost, I wish to thank my wife Robin for her love, patience, andunderstanding.
Special thanks tomy grea t-aunt Eva Romanowitz and great-uncle JosephTenenbaum for spending many days sharing their life story and helping to bringTomaszow back to life; to cousin Harry (Heshie) Romanowitz for his support andenthusiasm; to cousin Avra Romanowitz and Ralph Berge rfor their comments on the manuscript; to cousin Frieda (Fryda) Tenenbaum forher insight, superb manuscript reading, and invaluable photo collection, toKora Licht for reviewing all German translations and spelling, to Da vid Goldfarb, curator of literat ureand humanities at the Polish Cultural Institute New York, for reviewing Polishtranslations and spelling, to Thane Rosenbaum for his guidance, to Danuta Czechof the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum for her valuable research assistance, and toRobert Mandel f or recognizing the importance of thishistory.
It is not easyfor survivors to recall and retell painful memories, even harder for them todig deeper in patiently answering a journalist's endless questions. But thefollowing survivors did just that, for wh ich I ameternally grateful:
Motkeh (Murray)Berger, Czeslaw Cyni ak, Jakub (Jake)Eisenstein, La zar Grejs, TolaGrossman (Tova Friedman), Marion Halski, Maniusia Hanel (Halski), Hersh Lieb(Herman) Jeruzalski, ReginaJeruzalski, Sala Kenigsz tejn (SallyShampain), Hanka Lew (Hanah Korn), Rutka Lew (Rutka Eisen), Sala Majerowicz(Sally Reisbaum), Mania Markowicz (Mary Shampaner), Rose Obarzanek (RoseEisenstein), Micha l Piasecki, Shia(Stephan) Rajz baum (SamReisbaum), Rose (Rachel) Reizbaum, I rka Romer, Nuta(Nathan) Romer, Genia Rozanski, Srulek (Israel) Rozanski, Fishel (Felix)Samelson, Nacia Schulmeister (Naomi Steinman), Fri eda Szajewicz (Franya Friedenre ich), Leibish Szampaner (Leon Shampa ner), Szmul Szampaner (Sam Sham pain), Chemja Tenen baum, Eva(Chava) Tenenbaum (Eva Romanowitz), Fryda Tenenbaum (Frieda Grayzel), Jozef(Joseph) Tenenbaum, Andzia Warzecha (Anna Tenenbaum), Mania Warzecha (Miriam Romer),Zlacia Warzecha (Sophie Samuels), and Josef Zamulewicz (Joseph Samuels).
Most of thos e mentioned are no longer with us, but this book stands asa living testament not only to their survival but to their impressive perse verance.
Introduction
A vibrant Jewishcommunity once flourished in Tomaszow-Mazowiecki, Poland. Nearly 14,000 Jews lived there before World War II, aboutone-third of the town's residents. While Tomaszow still stands today, its Jewsare gone, their community extinct.
The Nazis crushedand decimated Tomaszow's Jewish culture and so ciety.They violen tly tortured and murdered Tomaszowersduring a three-year campaign of terror, then they systematically exterminatedmost of the town's Jews at the Treblinka death camp.
Only 250Tomaszowers outlived World War II. How did this select group survive, these pe ople who represented only a small fraction of a frac tion of what had been a dynamic Jewish community in pre-warPoland? Brains did not save the Jews of Tomaszow: intellectuals were among theNazis' first targets. God did not save the Jews of Tomaszow: the pious and righteousincluding our grandparents andgreat-grandparentswere mur dered at the Nazi deathfactory at Treblinka, Poland. Luck helped survival, but it was more than that.What did save some Tomaszowers was their craft, their ability to use need le and thread to create garments. The Nazis relied uponslave labor, including tailors, to support their war campaign. Tomaszow, atextile town, had more than its share of tailors. They stitched and mended notonly uniforms but also suits, slacks, and dres ses forNazi soldiers and their families. In return tailors received minimal foodrations that often meant the difference between life and death. At fateful Nazise lections tailors were directed to slave-laborcamps rather than death camps.
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