Hometown Klodawa

Klodawa Survivors Israel-Unidentified

Judy Muratore — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:34:00 GMT

PHOTO OF KLODAWA SURVIVORS IN ISRAEL SUBMITTED BY RACHEL FRID, DAUGHTER OF CHANA JAKLINSKI. CHANA APPEARS IN THIS PHOTO, STARTING FROM THE RIGHT, SHE IS THE 5TH PERSON IN.

DOES ANYBODY RECOGNIZE ANY OF THE OTHER KLODAWA SURVIVORS???

PLEASE HELP OUT IF YOU CAN.

JUDY

Klodawa Cheder 1935/6

Judy Muratore — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:13:00 GMT

The above photo of the cheder in Klodawa was taken in 1935/6. Several people have produced a copy of this photo--Dean Rotbart, Joseph Francuz, Moshe Krel. As of March, 2008 the following children have been identified:

First Row Seated Left to Right: 4th boy: Menel Grynfel, 5th boy: Avrum Opyczynski, Last Boy Seated: Motek Krel.

Middle Row: First Boy Standing on Left: Shmulik Krel.

Third Row Left to Right: Second Boy, Tzvi Francuz, 4th Boy: Jaretsky {Unknown First Name], Last Three Boys Left to Right: Motek [Max] Rotbart, Motek Rzeszewski[Max Rose], David Burdowski.

TEACHERS: Eidenberg [first name unknown--per Joe Francuz]

THE SHUL OF OUR ANCESTORS

Judy Muratore — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:07:00 GMT

This is a photo of the shul in Klodawa. This is where our ancestors celebrated their holidays, weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, etc.... Sadly, this is where the Germans came in on the holiest of days, Yom Kippur 1939, and removed all the townspeople from the building. They then removed all the Torahs, and prayer books and burned them. According to Paula Kempinski in her interview with Rabbi Brooks Susman in April 2007, after the Germans invaded and occupied the town, they stabled their horses in the building.

In July 2007, Robin Nichinsky visited Klodawa and the building that was once the shul. We are not certain that this is the same building, but most likely it is. If so, then it is now the local movie theatre of Klodawa, with most of the inner design in tact. To my knowledge, there is no other photo of the shul at this period in time. It should be cherised. I was gratefully able to receive this copy from Moshe Krell on my visit to his home in February, 2008. Thank you Moshe!

Judy Muratore

Imagine Me and Zhou

Dean Rotbart — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 06:08:00 GMT

If my grandfather were alive today, I can’t image what he would have made of my recent breakfast meeting with His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese Ambassador to the United States.

Hersz Rotbart was born in Kolo, Poland and spent most of his adult life making hats by hand and selling them in the weekly open-air market of Klodawa, a small village about one-hour’s drive west of Warsaw.

Zaydie, as I suspect I would have called him had I ever had the privilege of knowing Hersz, had no formal education to speak of and no doubt only knew China as a distant world inhabited by a great number of people of very foreign culture.

Indeed, from Klodawa to Beijing was a distance not counted in miles, but in millennia, for that is how long each culture had marched along its own unique path.

Zaydie died in Auschwitz in 1940, long before I was born and five years before Ambassador Zhou’s parents gave birth to him in China’s Jiangsu Province. As Ambassador, Zhou Wenzhong today represents his country’s 1.3 billion citizens in all of China’s political and business affairs with the United States of America.

During my breakfast meeting with the Chinese Ambassador, I couldn’t help but wonder if today, in “modern” China, the children of hatmakers and butchers can expect to grow up and confer with the U.S. Ambassador to China over breakfast?

By what quirk of fate, I found myself asking in August 2007, am I speaking to this man and his wife and joking with him as if we were old chums? How did our two worlds enter each others’ orbit, when only 67 years ago, they were light years apart?

As a journalist and entrepreneur, I’ve met and worked with many renowned people. I attended the Democratic National convention at Madison Square Garden in 1992 where Bill Clinton was first nominated. As a television news intern in Denver, I met then-Vice President Gerald R. Ford. I’ve dined privately with former Vice President Al Gore and shared a private lunch with Bibi Netanyahu. I’ve interviewed dozens of Fortune 500 CEOs, Hollywood celebrities, rock stars and even some Nobel laureates. For a year, I worked directly with Michael R. Milken, the billionaire financier turned mega-philanthropist.

But never in my professional career was I more struck by the incongruity of Hersz Rotbart’s grandson breaking bread with such an unlikely meal companion.

And for that, I must give all credit to the United States of America, which is truly the land of opportunity.

If the Nazis hadn’t invaded Poland in September 1939 and my grandfather hadn’t been killed at Auschwitz and my father, Max Rotbart, hadn’t survived Auschwitz to emigrate to the United States, chances are that right now, instead of writing this reminiscence, I’d be fitting head forms with cloth to help produce High Holiday hats for the family business.

Pre-war Klodawa, like the rest of Poland, was no haven of opportunity for the Jews. Sure, after eight centuries or so in the country, some Jews were university-educated and a small group of Jews actually rose to positions of prominence and power.

But mostly, Jews were relegated to Poland’s underclass, allowed to eek out a meager living and left alone to study their prayer books and religious texts, just so long as they minded their place.

No thanks to the Nazis, whose goal was not to help any Jews, just extinguish them as a people, World War II turned the world topsy turvy.

The hatmakers and fruit peddlers and tailors and butchers who survived the Holocaust fled their native Poland and scattered around the world – wherever host governments were willing to take them in.

Outside of Israel, no nation in the world was more receptive to the poor huddled outcasts of Nazi-occupied Europe than was America.

There are those who complain that America didn’t do enough for the Jews. Those who point out that conditions for Jewish immigrants in the sweatshops of New York and other American Jewish ghettos were deplorable.

To which I always respond, compared to what?

However slow the process by which Jewish immigrants in the United States planted new roots, they did so in vast numbers and those seedlings took and grew: if not during the first generation, then in the second generation and certainly by the third. The daughters and sons of Polish tailors and fruit peddlers grew up to be surgeons and judges and senators and generals, and, of course, journalists.

America is a great, great country. Was back in 1945, still is. But I don’t know that Ambassador Zhou, for all his formal education and worldliness, can really grasp just how wonderful our country is.

During my breakfast meeting with the Ambassador, I couldn’t help but wonder if today, in “modern” China, the children of hatmakers and butchers can expect to grow up and confer with the U.S. Ambassador to China over breakfast?

Does China offer its people the golden opportunities provided by America, or is power and influence in China still the exclusive domain of the party elite?

Ambassador Zhou and I shared breakfast. But with the taste of eggs and toast still on my tongue, I left wondering if we truly shared an understanding for just how amazing it was that the Ambassador spent the morning with Hersz Rotbart’s grandson.

My ancestors in Klodawa would never have believed it possible.

SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION ON ORNER/TAUBE/RUBENSTAIN FAMILY

Judy Muratore — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:56:00 GMT

Per Email from Ester Penn:

My name is Esther Penn and i was born in Klodawa in the year 1938. My parents names were:
Foigel Orner maiden name Taube
Nahum-Haim Orner from Kutno

My mother passed away recently in Israel
My father perished in Auszwitz on 29th July 1942.

I would like to make contact with anyone who new my parents or my grandparents Taube Asher and Rebeca (Rubinstain) who owned a flour mill.

Thank you for the opportunity of getting people together.

Esther Penn (Orner)

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Ester wrote more details in a later email:

My mother, my grandmother and myself left Klodawa in 1942 when the Germans started putting Jews in ghettos. my mother organised it. All through the war we have been in Tarnow (near Krakow) posing as Polish people. I attended a kindergarten in a Convent not knowing that we are Jews. My mother and myself were very lucky being blond with fair complexion. no one knew my mother at that town and she could impose as someone that she knew in Klodawa and was sent to working camp in Germany. That's a big story but very true.

I wish you luck with your research. actually I am looking for people who survived Auschwitz and new my father. He arrived there from Radom 0n 2/7/42 and was killed on the 29th same month. I have just one photo which I received from someone at the States.

----------------

If anybody has any information on this family, please forward to Judy, and I will pass on to Ester.

ROBIN NICINSKI'S TRIP TO KLODAWA: SUMMER 2007

Judy Muratore — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:39:00 GMT

Here is a recap of Robin Nicinski's recent visit to Klodawa:

See Robin's Pictures Here

" We hired a guide named Roman from a very responsible agency, and he drove us the two hours to Klodawa from Warsaw. He fit in very well with the locals, and as a result we had a very good experience. Did you know that Klodawa is known for its salt mine? We met two residents of Klodawa, one who lived on Rynek Street today and showed us a picture of the street from the 1930's. He was very friendly and welcoming and when we left told me I should live 100 years! We also met a woman who had a Jewish father who was at Auschwitz and returned to Klodawa after the war and married a non Jewish woman. She showed us pictures of her family, relatives in Israel and her father's (Mendel Frankenstein) Auschwitz identification papers. The town itself was pleasant enough, with a big grassy park in the center with a monument to Poles killed by the Nazis in the center. We found the old synagogue, which is now a community center, and could see where the sanctuary must have been, and is now a ticket selling area. We saw the old Jewish cemetery, which has no headstones but does have a plaque on a memorial stone. We also went to the town center, and the woman there made copies of the birth records of four out of five of my father's brothers (I learned from my sister when I returned home that one brother died of natural causes so there were actually five). I now know their names and dates of birth, and that the Rabbi's name was Engelman. I also got the marriage and birth records of an Avram Chaim Nicinski, who was also a tailor (he even had a phone, I have a page from the 1939 phone directory!). He must be a relative but I don't know how. When we left Klodawa we went about 9 miles away on this country road to a nearby town called Prezedecz. I had learned from a cousin that my grandmother was born there, and the kids from Prezedecz used to walk along the road and meet up with kids from Klodawa (perhaps how my grandparents met!). That town was a little smaller but similar to Klodawa and I found my grandmother's handwritten birth record from 1905. It was really all an incredible experience and we encountered no anti-semitism at all, I am happy to say. From there I visited the Krakow ghetto, where my father went after Klodawa, and then Auschwitz, where he also was for years before being liberated from Bergen Belsen at the end of the war. I had been nervous about going to Klodawa and the possibility of encountering hostility there, but it didn't happen. Of course we didn't push any buttons by asking lots of questions about Jewish life, but we did ask and was told about where the Jewish areas were. We also did not meet any seniors who might have been adults at that time (the people we spoke to were closer to my age). I bought a package of Klodawa salt, and bread and chocolate there. I also took as many pictures as I could and would love to share them with you. The problem is that I am not too computer-savvy about these sorts of things so I could use your guidance on how to do it."

Robin

SEEKING BACKGROUND ON ABRAHAMS FAMILY (RELATION OF NICHINSKY)

Judy Muratore — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:11:00 GMT

"My name is Elaine Herrett from Kent, England and I am seeking information on the parents & grandparents of the Abrahams family children:- Bluma, Nathan, Samuel, Tobias, and Saul all born in Klodawa during the 1870's. It is unconfirmed their father was a Rabbi/Chief Rabbi who was killed in Klodawa. No information exists on their mother, also believed killed. Information from my 97 year old aunt (daughter of Samuel Abrahams & Eva Nichinsky) is that the Abrahams family lived next-door to the Nichinsky family (details of whom are posted on this site). It would seem that when the Abrahams children were orphaned, the widowed Annie Nichinsky (my gt grandmother) took them under her wing (believed to have adopted them) & escaped Poland with them to England. Later Samuel Abrahams married Eva Nichinsky (my grandparents), & Bluma Abrahams married Marks Nichinsky."

YAD VASHEM SHOAH DATABASE

Judy Muratore — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:36:00 GMT

Several people have written in looking for any information that can be found about their family members from Klodawa. One simple first step that is accessible to all, and quite easy to use is the Yad Vashem Shoah Database. In this database you can look up by town, or by family name anyone you are looking for. To get to the database, use this link:
http://www.yadvashem.org/lwp/workplace/IY_HON_Entrance

Once there you will see: "To search the Database or submit names Click Here".

Once you click, you will see boxes to enter either family name or location, or both. It is a simple and powerful tool, and should be one of the first places you look, if you haven't already. Also, as a search tip, try different spellings of the last name, they are not always correct. Klodawa, itself has about 1000 names listed.

I hope this will help you in your search.

Good luck!
Judy

KLODAWA SOCIETY CEMETERY PLOT. MT. LEBANON CEMETERY. GLENDALE, NY.

Judy Muratore — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:14:00 GMT

More than two years ago when I first began getting in touch with fellow Klodawa researchers, Karen Kroneheim and I connected and discovered that our families had been friends via the Klodawa Society. The Society was formed of the "Landsmanshaft" of the town who were newly settled in the U.S., mostly in the New York area, but also from Boston, as with my own family, and probably other places.   I hope to find out more about the Klodawa Society, itself. In fact one of the cousins I spoke with over the years told me had actually had a program from one of the meetings.

What I would like to do today, is post the email that Karen Kronheim sent two years back. She went to visit the cemetery in Glendale, NY and was kind enough to write down all the names she could come up with who were buried there. In addition, she wrote down the names of the some of the founders of the Klodawa Society who were also named at the site. Thank you to Karen, even at this later, date for taking the time to do that. Several of the names have come up over the years from family members who have written in--most recently, Harold Andrews, who is a descendant of the Jaret family, and has several family members listed. To see Harold's entry, please click "View Comments" on the "Przedecki Family of No. 10 Rynek" entry.

Here is Karen's email:

Dear Madeleine and fellow Klodawa researchers,
     It is such a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to communicate with one another about our families. I hope that the information I’m about to provide will be helpful to some of you. As I mentioned last week in my e-mails, my father, Rudy Kronheim, who was born in Klodawa in 1904, belonged to a society of Landsman here in NYC. His two brothers, Joseph and Leon, were also part of this group. As a child, I regularly attended these meetings with my parents and knew/ met many of these people who were my parents’ dear friends. On the following list of meembers, I have put an asterisk next to the names of the people I recall.
           Inspired last week by my wonderful conversations with Judy, another researcher, I visited the cemetery this morning where my father is buried in the section devoted to members of the Klodawa (the society spells its’ name “Klodaver”) Society. While there, I wrote down a list of the founding members of the society as well as most of the names of the members who now rest there. I apologize that I might have missed a few names because I wasn’t sure how far the lot spread out to and it was 20 degrees out! The list is however fairly complete. I pass this information along to you in the hopes it will have meaning. I am also currently trying to locate the current society liasion who may have records or information about the society. When I locate this information, I will pass it along as well. In the meantime, here’s some information for you:
Mt. Lebanon Cemetery     718-821-0200
7800 Myrtle Avenue
Glendale, NY 11385
The Klodaver Society Plot: Block R       Section 2
          If you have a question about a family member who might be buried there (and you don’t see their name on the following list), call Mt. Lebanon. All of their records are computerized and they will be happy to give you information. If I can be of any other assistance, please feel free to write me, Karen Kronheim Louick at Klspeech@aol.com.
Members buried at Mt. Lebanon:
*Altman, Anna and Solomon
*Cooper, Sue and Isidore
*Flonder, Anna and Abraham
Frank, Harry
*Green, Regina and Morris
*Heller, Dorothy and Abraham
Jacobs, Edith and Morris
*Jaret, Abe, Dave, Morris, and Alex
*Karasik, Bertha
Levy (sorry I forgot to write the first name here)
*Marchak, Halina (I believe that Abe, Halina’s husband, moved to Israel when she passed away and may be buried there).
*Mariampolski, Sally and Abraham
*Nichinsky, Henrietta and Joseph
*Opper, Reina and Louis
*Rogers, Rifka and Abraham
*Sompolsky, Pollie, Rubin and Phillip
*Tannenbaum, Goldie and William

Founding Members are listed on plaques on both sides of the entryway into the society plot but didd not all appear to be buried there. They are as follows:
Abe Jaret                    Raphael Jaret
Jacob Green                    Isidore Cooper
I.S. Morrison                    Alex Morrison
Dave Jaret                    Morris Jaret
Isidore Jacobs                    Jack Rosen
Moe Frank     Ruben Sompolsky
Charles Levy                    Mendel Levy
Israel Jacobs                    Sol Chesire
Sol Altman               Joseph Kronheim
Abe Wishniesky                    Abraham Rogers
Louis Opper                    Morris Jacobs
Morris Green          Alex Jaret
                              Herman Schulman
     Abraham Flonder
                              Harry Frank
     It would be wonderful to know if any of these people are your family. I would appreciate it if you could please just drop me a line to let me know. Thanks so much
     Good luck to you all in your searches and best wishes for the new year!

Karen Kronheim Louick
Klspeech@aol.com

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Judy Muratore

24 KLODAWA SURVIVORS. LANDSBERG, GERMANY DP CAMP. JANUARY, 1947.

Judy Muratore — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 01:45:00 GMT

L-R Sitting: Pesseh Zysling, Ben Landau, Mendel Greinfeld, Chaicha (Tabaczynski/Opoczynski) Marczak, Zalma Marczak, Yosef-Zalig Nichinsky.

Second Row Standing L-R : (start w/ man in front left): Labe Landau, Yiztkah Lewin, Michuel Przedecki, Lienna Przdecki, Myer-Hirsh Bordowski, Sara-Lea Sendowski, "Male" Greinfeld, Samuel Nicinski, Mordchai [Mark]Bordowski, Henyik Opoczynski, Motek [Max] Rotbart.

3rd Row Standing L-R : Yurig [Joseph] Francus, "Female" Sendowski, David Bordowski, Regina Tama Bordowski, Leibel Korek, Lily Niehaus, Henyik Niehaus. ["Male" or "Female" was used if first name unknown.]

THESE PEOPLE WERE IDENTIFIED BY JOSEPH FRANCUS AT AN INTERVIEW IN HIS HOME ON JANUARY 13, 2007. ONLY ONE PERSON OUT OF THE 24 WAS NOT IDENTIFIED. I AM NOT 100% CERTAIN OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES SUROUNDING THESE SURVIVORS, OR HOW THEY ENDED UP IN THIS CAMP TOGETHER. MY UNCLE MICHUEL PRZEDECKI, AND HIS WIFE LIENNA (PICTURED HERE) WENT ON TO LIVE IN FRANKFURT FOR THREE YEARS BEFORE LEAVING FOR CUBA-- EN ROUTE TO THE U.S.. MY COUSIN JOSEPH FRANCUS (ALSO PICTURED HERE) LIVED IN NEW ULM, GERMANY FOR 3 YEARS BEFORE COMING TO THE U.S.. IT IS MY ASSUMPTION THAT ALL THESE KLODAWITES WERE PLACED HERE TEMPORARILY, BEFORE FINDING MORE PERMANENT RESIDENCES. I ALSO KNOW THAT THERE WAS ASSISTANCE SET UP IN THE TOWN OF LODZ FOR LOCAL PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR HOMES AND FAMILIES--PERHAPS AFTER REGISTERING THERE, THE TOWNSPEOPLE WERE SENT TO LAUPHEIM. I WILL LOOK INTO THIS FURTHER.

Photos Posted to "We Are All Strangers"

Judy Muratore — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 02:27:00 GMT

If anybody is interested, I FINALLY got a few photos posted on an already existing comment to the entry of "We Are All Strangers". The photos are of my grandfather, Mark Pizer, with Gnendel Rzeszewski--Dean Rotbart's great-Aunt, and two additional photos of my grandfather and Albert Morrison, Ron Volk's Uncle. To view, simply go to the "We are All Strangers" entry, and click on comments--they will be there.

I hope to be posting my entire photo album very, very soon!

Judy Muratore

Klodawa Today: A Recent Visit by Paul Davison

Judy Muratore — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:29:00 GMT

Paul Davison has created a photo gallery from his visit to Klodawa as part a family trip to Poland in April 2006. As his pictures show, Klodawa's Jewish history lives on without its lost Jewish soul.

Discovering our Roots in Poland - October 2006

Chanukah Skypefest

Dean Rotbart — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 19:34:00 GMT

What would our ancestors think if they could see today's Internet technology?

Could they believe that their grandchildren and greatgrandchildren -- spread around the world -- could reunite for Chanukah 2006 to celebrate the holiday and get to know one another?

That is our plan. Please mark you calendars for Sunday, December 17, 2006 for a planned Klodawa holiday party on the Internet. We will use Skype and/or other available technologies (to be determined) to be able to speak with and -- ideally -- see one another.

The Internet party is scheduled for noon New York Time, so that Klodawa descendants in every time zone can participate. We will light a Chanukah menorah, spin a dreidel or two and share our family histories. Please spread the word and plan to join us!

Seeking Background on Nicinski Family

Dean Rotbart — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 20:40:00 GMT

My name is Paul Davison, I found your web site and saw that there is a Nicinski family listed. I wondered where those records were found. My Grand parents were born in Klodawa and then lived in Kolo before travelling to the UK. Her name was Hinda Nicinski (born 15 June 1897) daughter of Jacob Mordecai Nicinski and her husband was Max Hants (born 9 August 1889), his father Isaac Jacob Hanc (born 9 August 1863) I am looking for information about them and their family. An address in Klodawa would be brilliant. Any help would be appreciated. Do you have any information or is there any one else you know who might help? Also, have you come across a memorial book for Klodawa, I have one for Kolo? My family and I are visiting Klodawa and Kolo in a few weeks but only for a few days and over a weekend. I Look forward to hearing from you. Regards, Paul PAUL DAVISON

Time Travel: How Would You Spend The Day?

Dean Rotbart — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 17:18:00 GMT

I was recently asked to write an essay on how when and where I would go if I could travel back in time for just one day. I was also asked why. Here is what I wrote. Where would you go and why?

It is April 10, 1937 and I’m in attendance at Saturday morning prayer services in Klodawa, Poland, an overgrown collection of hovels about 60 miles West of Warsaw.

It’s a good thing that I’m only here metaphysically, as there is not a seat available in the tiny synagogue. Indeed, outside, people are milling about the open windows trying to get a peak of the ceremony inside or at the very least catch a prayer or melody as it wafts along on the start of its heavenly journey.

The women sit separately from the men. They coo each time they catch a glimpse of the Bar Mitzvah boy, Motik, or his younger sister, Hinda. The women are bedecked in their finest dresses and springtime hats, and the symphony of their perfumes proclaims that this is indeed a special day.

The men wear black hats and drape themselves in flowing white wraps, known as tallasim, or Jewish prayer shawls. The collars of the shawls are ornately decorated in gold or silver stitching bearing the Hebrew prayer each man is required to read before adorning the ritual garment. Hanging from the four corners of each tallis are special string fringes – tstsis – which to a non-Jew most probably look like knotted graduation tassels.

My attention is riveted on those who attend this ‘simcha,’ or special celebration. Most of them I have never -- and will never -- meet. My father, the Bar Mitzvah boy (his Americanized name was Max), will remain in Klodawa until shortly after the Germans invade Poland two-and-a-half years hence. He’ll then be forcibly taken to labor camps and ultimately to the living hell of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Of all the family in attendance on this April day in 1937, only my father and one aunt – his father’s younger sister – will live to see the end of the war eight years later. Everyone else will perish, many of them leaving behind no trace whatsoever of their earthly sojourn – not so much as a photo.

But this is not a day of sorrow, rather a day of great joy. It is how I would most like to picture my extended family – enjoying each other’s company and anticipating a great community feast at the end of prayers. This is a day of happiness, fulfillment and gratitude. If I could, I would enshrine this day above all others in my memories of my dad and his family.

Life overflows with both happiness and sadness. It is for us to choose which images and emotions we embrace.

This Blog Is Listed At Technorati.com

Dean Rotbart — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 15:31:00 GMT

Technorati Profile

10-Year Old Lucas Muratore On His Great-Grandfather, Mark Przdecki

Dean Rotbart — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 17:32:00 GMT

Lucas Muratore is a third-gen Klodawa descendant. His grandfather, Mark Przdecki, emmigrated from Klodawa to the United States, arriving at Ellis Island. Lucas was recently asked by his school class to cast himself as an immigrant as part of "Immigration Day." He chose to play his grandfather. Although Lucas was assigned to make an oral presentation, he and his mom, Judy, shared with us his informal notes.

Hi!

My name is Mark Przdecki. The trip was really long from Klodawa, Poland. That's the place I was born. I left my beautiful country because my Uncle Aron lived here in America. He wrote to me when I still lived in Klodawa and he told me how wonderful America was, and all the new opportunities there. Also, in Poland things were getting rough so I decided to come here to America. I wanted to leave all the people who were being mean to all us Jews! I hope to work in my Uncle's business as a tailor and have a better life. Also, I want to get my other family members over here. I plan to live in Boston with my Uncles and Aunts.

I hurried to the ship running. I carried my suitcase which I have here. Let me show you some things. This boot represents the salt mines in Poland. This cap is called a Yamaka and it is used to pray. I used it a lot on the ship praying to get to American safely. Here is my family photo. I just can't wait until I get enough money to bring the rest of my family over. I always read books during the ship ride. It is my favorite thing to do. Polish salami is a great food, and it will not spoil. Mmmm....

The voyage was crowded and noisy, but I don't think it was as bad as steerage. By the way, I was in second class. I slept on a top bunk. When I saw the Statue of Liberty I felt excited because I was finally going to see America. I met up with my Uncle Julius from New Jersey. Then I went off to Boston. Life in the U.S. is different because all these people are speaking a different language. But, I think life in America is going to be great. Oh, look at the time. I'm going to be late for my train. Bye!

The Neglected Jewish Cemetary of Klodawa

Dean Rotbart — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 09:16:00 GMT

Before the war. Before September 1939. Before Chelmno. Our familes in Klodawa buried their beloved relatives, friends and neighbors in the sole Jewish cemetary in town. By one estimate, roughly 2,000 headstones once populated this plot of land. Today there are none. Still, buried beneath the overgrown and unkempt field are the final remains of our ancestors.

I visited the cemetary in July 2001 and recorded these images and thoughts.

Click Here To See The Video

To view the video, you will need to run QuickTime, a video player that is available for both the PC and the Mac. If you don't already own this program, you can download it by clicking on these links:

Mac:
PC:

We Will Post Oral Histories -- And Video Histories -- On This Site

Dean Rotbart — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 02:32:00 GMT

Dear Friends,

We are building Klodawa.org not just for our generation, but for generations to come. It is especially important that we capture as many first-person memories as possible, because the passage of time works against us.

We do have the ability to post audio and video testimonies on this site and they will add richly to its historical record. If you do have either, I am capable of digitizing them -- no matter what format they currently exist in -- and posting them here.

To view videos, you will need to run QuickTime, a video player that is available for both the PC and the Mac. If you don't already own this program, you can download it by clicking on these links:

Mac:
PC:

I have posted two initial videos, both of my aunt, Yadja Jacobs, who I interviewed in July 1992. Although Aunt Yadja, herself, lived in neighboring Kolo, her brother -- Hersz Rotbart -- lived in Klodawa. Hersz was my father's father.

In the first video, Aunt Yadja recalls Shabbos in Klodawa at her brother's house.

In the second video, she recalls where along the town square Hersz lived.

In both videos, she sometimes confuses me for my father, so she refers to "your mother" or "your father" when she really means my father's mother or my father's father.

I will post many more videos as I have time to edit and convert them.

Please contact me if you need help viewing or posting your own videos or photos.

DEAN

The Przedecki Family of No. 10 Rynek -- Klodawa

Judy Muratore — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 02:25:00 GMT

My name is Judy Muratore. My grandfather on my mother's side was born in Klodawa. His entire family, with the exception of his youngest brother, was killed in the Holocaust. I am very fortunate to have been left with many, many family photos from his days in Klodawa, as well as many letters, an extensive family tree created recently by a relative, and pages of memoirs and family stories written down by my grandfather, in hopes of one day completing the full story of his life.

In addition, the one Uncle who survived the War, along with his cousin who escaped with him, are both alive, doing well, and have sharp minds and memories of life back in Klodawa. My Uncle was just about to finish his 18 month service in the Polish Army on September 15, 1939. As we all know the war broke out. He was captured by the Germans, and sent to a labour camp. He jumped off the train, and returned home to Klodawa. His family told him to run while he can! His aunt made him take her youngest son, and run away together--having him swear to her that he would watch out for him. Which he did.

The story of their escape is enough to fill a website of it's own. What I would like to be able to do, is share their memories with all of you who are looking for some insight on what life was like back in Klodawa in the time of our ancestors. They may even be able to identify names of people.

My grandfather's family name is Przedecki (Americanized to Pizer). He arrived in 1932, before things got very bad. There were five siblings: my grandfather Menesha, his youngest brother Michael who escaped and is alive and living here in Massachusetts, two more brothers David and Avrum-Ruven, and a sister Rachel all of whom died in the War along with their own families.

My great-grandparents were Sender and Bayla (Francus) Przedecki. Sender was a successful clothes merchant and manufacturer in Klodawa. His parents were Rifka and Mordechai Przedecki, who came to Klodawa from the neighbouring town of Przedeck, and from where the name "Predecki" derives from. The family history goes back to Rivka's grandparents, so to around 1790. According to the writing of my grandfather, her family came to Babiak Poland from Germany. I have photos that go back to Mordchai and Rivka in their later years. The Przedecki family lived in "No. 10 Rynek", Klodawa.

Over the last year or two I have collected a lot of information. I am so excited that Dean has created this website! I now have a place to post these things! I hope in doing so, that I can help others gain some insight into what life must have been like back in the days before the war for a typical Jewish family in Klodawa.

As time allows, and hopefully by the end of this weekend, I will post what I can.

Thank you Dean for putting this together! I'm sure our ancestors are smiling somewhere up there, if not saying, "What took you so long?" This is our time! It will be great!!

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More to come.

Judy Libman Muratore