Siedce Gravestones

One of the difficult issues in the Holocaust is the use of Jewish gravestones for street pavement. This was done during these dark in some places.

Siedlce was one of such dark places. Here is the photo that is archived in Yad Vashem Museum that show one of the places ... seems to be a case where the gravestone is almost intact. It is not clear if this photo was done during the war when the payment was done or was it after the war if and when the stones were collected and placed elsewhere.  Here we can see that the photo was taken on the street an not in the cemetery.

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Source: http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/s637-469/16600231861828893898.jpg

Some of he gravestones were broken like this one:

Source: http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/s637-469/16834312460144349336.jpg

Continuing here is a man standing next to a pile of shattered gravestones ... collected from the streets or prepared to move to the street ... how can anyone tell.

Sad ... so to complete the observation ... here are some more Broken gravestones.

Bulgarian Military Red Cross in Siedlce, Poland 1943

What do we know about participation of the Bulgarian army with the Nazi Germany particularly during in the "East Front" - that is war against Soviet Union? Officially Bulgaria was neutral until 1 March 1941, participating on a sideways in the war against Greece and Yugoslavia. As a part of Axis Bulgaria occupied parts of Serbia and Greece.

Bulgaria did not send her army to USSR but apparently assisted sidelines as in the previous invasion to Germans. We can learn about that from the fact that the Bulgarian Army managed to make tours in Poland 1943 here is photo evidence from the Internet.

Bulgarian sanitary mission (train) to the Eastern Front: medics are heavily armed in the areas of active work of Soviet partisans city Siedlce, near Brest, Eastern Poland, 1943.

Bulgarian sanitary mission (train) to the Eastern Front: Stage hospital BRC Legionovo, Poland - one of the places where the train brings the wounded from the front. The building is a former railway School of the Polish Army. 

It creates the Bulgarian Red Cross military hospital equipment, medical and nursing staff from Bulgaria.

Bulgarian sanitary mission (train) to the Eastern Front: direct blood transfusion from healthy to severely wounded soldier made by Bulgarian nurses in the Red Cross hospital in Legionovo, Poland

More details about Bulgarian Train to the East Front you can read in the separate blog. See http://mysteriesofwwii.blogspot.co.il/

Mystery Called Neta Harpaz

I always wondered how accurate is the information from the "trust-worthy" sites on the Internet.
In this case it was bot very accurate but this fact make it even more interesting.

I am interested in Jewish people from Siedlce in Poland or nearby places. The laconic text in Wikipedia for Neta Harpaz catches my eyes.

The statement born Neta Goldberg in 1893 must have been false. The name Neta is today given in Israel to the new born baby girls (Hebrew meaning seed or plant). Indeed quick check and we know that a boy born to Goldberg family in 1893 was give a name Natan.

Now after proper identification we can discuss further the person ... Nathan Goldberg. He changed sometimes his name to Nathan Neta Harpaz. This was a colorful person - with quite interesting and complex life. He was not afraid of challenges.

So we learn that he was born in Kosava near Siedlce ... apparently it is in Belorus near Slonim. 

Still it seems that during his life as a young boy and youngster much of his life was around Siedlce. 

We can learn about this individual that he lived his life very intensively. His father was not just a Hassid he was also a businessman from Radzyn. The family was moving all around ... we read that Natan was learning in Heders and Yeshivot in Sieldce and Losice ... and finally moved to Warsaw with the family, worked in the family business ... all that until age of 16. In 1906, during the pogroms there,  at age of 13 and 14 was busy with transferring arms to Siedlce Jewish self defense organisation as part of Poalei Zion activities.  This is interesting -this is the first documented instance of organised Jewish resistance against pogroms of the mob and the Tzarist Secret Ochrana.  

In 1908 left Poland to Eretz Israel at age of  15 or 16 years.

The mystery continues. According to the Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel (Volume 3 pp. 1122-1123). So we "learn" - that in 1913 In Eretz Israel he was until 1913 ... living as a worker and working activist. He become ill with fewer disease and returned to Poland. There he was enlisted to the Russian Army and with the end of the war returned to Eretz Israel. Seems to be totally wrong info  ...

Now the true info is here ... to the Wikipedia in Hebrew - In 1914 Harpaz was elected to the center of "Hapoel Hatzair". World War I acted to relief the hardship of the Jewish workers. During the war (1917), 10 of the workers, members of  Hapoel Petah - Tikva were charged with spying for the United Kingdom, and were required to turn themselves to the authorities. Harpaz accompanied them to Jaffa questioning and assumed the leadership of these workers. All 11 were imprisoned by Ottomans in Damascus. Three of them died in prison, and - their name is called Kibbutz Givat three near Petah - Tikva. While he was in prison, his wife and son died in childhood, hunger and malaria then were during the war in Petah Tikva.

היום הראשון להופעת העיתון "דבר", 01.06.1925 בתמונה: דניאל לייבל, זלמן שזר, ברל כצנלסון, נטע הרפז, משה שרת, חיים קרופניק צלם: משה וורוביצ'יקhttp://www.archavoda.org.il/avodaarch/VirtualMuseum/BerlPics1.asp Harpaz with his political friends in 1925

His life after WWI needs another blog page - or one can just read more in the Wikipedia in Hebrew (sorry for that).

Holocaust Mystery from Miedzyrzec Podlaski

Samson Zelig Rubinstein ... One could learn about existence of this person from Wikipedia on Międzyrzec Podlaski. He is listed here as one of the notable people of this town - no one probably can know from this site what is his contribution to the town.

So finally there is some info about him - he is a Holocaust Survivor. A mysterious Holocaust Survivor from Miedzyrzec Podlaski.  So here is the issue ... how to find out information on a holocaust survivor name Samson Zelig Rubinstein?

Very little information was so far revealed. His grave marker, in Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington, NC, says that he was born in Miedzyrzec Podlaski, Poland on July 21, 1934 also he is a veteran of the Army.  A small obituary note was in the Wilmington Star News when he passed away.

It is so odd that there is no more info about him. How can such a important part of his history be address in so few words in a place where he lived with the family?     

Buy Jewish Memories in Siedlce - it is cheap

We start our shopping with this one:

This one is free of charge - an appetizer.
It is from Siedlce Holocaust Image Gallery (35 photos in total) - we put here only two.

Siedlce women posing under sign


Siedlce heder school 2004 - We do not know the price of this one.

But then we find more famous place in Jewish Siedlce - the Jewish Hospital
Why it is now famous ... it has been put on auction in 2011!!!


Interesting in Podlasie - Jewish Hospital in Siedlce

Jewish Hospital built in Siedlce in 1890, photo was taken in early 1900s. - Virtual Shtetl - www.sztetl.org.pl

Szpital żydowski w Siedlcach zbudowany w 1890 r., zdjęcie zrobiono na początku XX wieku - Wirtualny Sztetl - www.sztetl.org.pl

More about it - In Polish: W dniu 24 sierpnia 1942 r., podczas likwidacji getta w Siedlcach, naziści rozstrzelali około 100 pacjentów oraz personel szpitala żydowskiego przy ul. 1 Maja (obecnej ul. Świrskiego). Chorych zabijano w łóżkach, lekarzy i pielęgniarki zgładzono na dziedzińcu . Zdjęcie archiwalne ze zbiorów Muzeum Regionalnego w Siedlcach.

We can read about this sell in Hebrew: זכרונות למכירה 
If you prefer here is English 
Or even Polish  
This is another one: http://starozakonni.w.interia.pl/dziedzictwo.htm

You can try to find more interesting memories to buy ... after all - who cares?

Photo of Siedlce lawyers with Maximilian Apollinari Hartglas

On-line publication <Siedlecki Weekend> posted this question in Polish on 2009-04-23, refer to http://www.tygodniksiedlecki.com/artykuly.php?id=5060. We have translated it to English below.

This photograph may remembered by the people who had in their hands the book "Siedlce 1448-1995" edited by Edward Kospatha-Pawlowski, released in 1996.

The above photo, immemoriates twelve men, photographed in front of an unidentified building, which has minimal caption: "Palestra Siedlce. Fifth from the right is the patron Alexis Chrzanowski ".

Why these people decided to make this photo outdoors, and not in the courtroom, for example, in the office of the Judge of the District?

The judge of the Appeal Court in Warsaw, Witold Okniński (author of the book "Justice Siedlce region during World War II and the German occupation"), who provided us with this photo from his collections, noted that an this image are in addition to A. Chrzanowski persons lawyers from Siedlce: Andrew Dyżewski, Maximilian Hartglas Apollinaris, Wladyslaw Wilczynski and Alexander Slaski.

Which one is which in the photo?
Who, besides lawyers, we see in this picture?
What's the occasion has been done?

We count on your home and inquiring archives. We look forward to e-mail at the address or telephone: abramowicz@siedlecki.pl - tel 025 640 24 14 (Ana)

So far the original query.

Jewish interest in this question is obvious - there seems to be two religious Jews (lawyers, members of the community?) and also Maximilian Hartglas who was a famous Jewish lawyer from Siedlce.

We can read a good write-up about him on this link:
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Hartglas_Apolinary

The image of Maximilian Apollinari Hartglas is found under YadVaShem collection. http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/s637-469/9147451782446102896.jpg

http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/en-us/5854513_39979.html

 

Wikepedia gives as other image 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolinary_Hartglas

Another image follows: 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apolinary_Hartglas.jpg

It does not reveal 100% who of them could be Hartglas - all of then have mustaches or beards or both.

Original Polish text follows: 

Pod zdjęciem, uwieczniającym dwunastu mężczyzn, sfotografowanych przed niezidentyfikowanym budynkiem, zamieszczono dość oszczędny podpis: „Palestra siedlecka. Piąty od prawej stoi mecenas Aleksy Chrzanowski”.

Czemu zażyczyli sobie zdjęcie w plenerze, a nie na sali sądowej, czy np. w gabinecie Sędziego Okręgowego?

Sędzia Sądu Apelacyjnego w Warszawie, Witold Okniński (autor m.in. książki „Sądownictwo regionu siedleckiego w czasie II wojny światowej i niemieckiej okupacji”), który udostępnił nam ze swoich zbiorów kopię tej fotografii, dociekł, że na zdjęciu tym są oprócz A. Chrzanowskiego m.in. siedleccy adwokaci: Andrzej Dyżewski, Maksymilian Apolinary Hartglas, Władysław Ślaski i Aleksander Wilczyński. Który z nich jest którym na fotografii? Kogo, oprócz adwokatów, widzimy na tym zdjęciu? Z jakiej okazji zostało zrobione?

Liczymy na Państwa archiwa domowe i dociekliwość. Czekamy na maile pod adresem a_abramowicz@siedlecki.pl lub telefony - tel. 025 640 24 14. (Ana)

Fotografię tę pamiętają być może osoby, które miały w rękach książkę „Siedlce 1448-1995” pod red. Edwarda Kospatha-Pawłowskiego, wydaną w 1996 r.

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How many Jews in Siedlce in 1939

The dilemma - population of  Siedlce in 1939 

Demography calculation depends on many factors like any statistics ... if used out of context may become not accurate.
Typically genealogists are concerned with demography ... putting it to test for Siedlce is an interesting case study.  Today with the abundance of information readily obtainable over the Internet it should be a "piece of cake" task.
Well, it does't.  Once a person  began to check how many Jews lived in Siedlce in 1939 just before the war it appears not so trivial.

The bottom line seems to be this:

Total Population      41,294

Jewish Population   15,823

Percentage               38.3%

The following article is short enough and interesting for the readers not only as a source for demography figures so it appears in full.

_____________________________________________________________

March 13, 2009 - Commemorating of the Jewish inhabitants of Siedlce
 Before World War II Jews constituted 70 % of the city’s population. Today they have been commemorated with a plaque that was founded by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage and the Jewish Community of Warsaw.
Apart from the Siedlce residents and city authorities’ representatives, students of the classes 1-3 of the Bolesław Prus High School, a group of almost one hundred girls from Israel and the USA, employees of the Podlasie Academy, as well as a Slovak whose entire family died during the Holocaust took part in the ceremony. Pinchas Żarczyński, the assistant rabbi of the Warsaw community said a prayer for the deceased – Yizkor and the vice-mayor of Siedlce Jarosław Głowacki, together with other city’s deputies, laid flowers at the monument commemorating the two thousand murdered Jews.
A US lawyer, Michael Traison additionally sponsored an iron signpost with a huge Star of David, informing about the Jewish cemetery. It was located at the junction of Szkolna and Piłsudski streets, 300m away from the cemetery.
References:
„Tablica ku pamięci Żydów siedleckich”, [in:] „Życie Siedleckie”, 06.03.2009;
„Uroczystość na siedleckim cmentarzu żydowskim”, [in:] „ Tygodnik Siedlecki”, 22.03.2009; 
„Tablica, drogowskaz i cała reszta”, [in:] „Tygodnik Siedlecki”, 05.04.2009.
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Before the war means a period of 20 years 1919-11930. So let's drill it it down to the smaller chunks of chronology.

Wikipedia adds some more insights: Here the population of Jews is 15,000 or 37%.  

"For much of the 19th Century - a time when the town's population steadily increased - Jews were the majority of Siedlce's population: 3,727 (71.5%) in 1839; 4,359 (65%) in 1841; 5,153 (67.5%) in 1858; 8,156 (64%) in 1878. 

Later on, the percentage of Jews decreased due to non-Jewish migration: according to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 23,700, Jews constituted 11,400 (so around 48% percent).^[1] 

The first Polish census, in 1921, recorded 14,685 Jews living in Siedlce. 

Their number remained steady in the interwar period, and in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, there were some 15,000 Jews living in the town.^{[citation needed]}

"In 1939, Jews constituted some 37% of the town's population." 

The above Wikipedia figures are consistent with Jewish Virtual Library: 

"The Jewish population numbered 3,727 (71.5% of the total) in 1839; 4,359 (65%) in 1841; 5,153 (67.5%) in 1858:8,156 (64%) in 1878; and 14,685 (47.9%) in 1921."

Another even richer source is Enote on Siedlce ... info here like above.

Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos (page 428) provides slightly different figures; 17,000 Jews - as per the Encyclopedia it was 50% of the population on the eve of WWII. 

As per Polish Version of Wikipedia -  ... as in 1939 the population of Siedlce was 41,294 (this figure is also confirmed here (refer to Ludność Siedlec); according to the figure from "Zydzi w Siedlcach 1850-1945)" Table 4 page 230 - there were in total 15,823 Jews above it gives us 38.3% of Jewish population.