I went to Polish school dur<strong>in</strong>g the day. Afterwards, I studied religious subjects at the house of themelamed. I remember two rabbis: a young <strong>Ivansk</strong>er rabbi 3 , as well as the Shedlover rabbi whooften visited the town 4 . Every Friday as Shabbos approached the “Shabbos Klapper” walkedthrough <strong>Ivansk</strong> knock<strong>in</strong>g on the door of every <strong>Jewish</strong> home. On Shabbos I got dressed up andwore a sat<strong>in</strong> hat. The men went to shul. I recall pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs on the walls of the shul. These memoriesof Shabbos are good memories. The women did not go to shul with us. No doubt they were athome prepar<strong>in</strong>g the Shabbat meal.Art as a Family TraditionPa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g was a Podeswa family tradition. Yidel’s father, not only pa<strong>in</strong>ted houses but was an artistas well. My father never saw a picture <strong>in</strong> his life. The only pictures he ever saw, besides thepa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs on the walls of the <strong>Ivansk</strong> shul, were on paper candy wrappers.Due to amaz<strong>in</strong>g circumstances two of Yidel’sfather’s pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs have survived. In 1935 bothwere rolled and mailed to Surah Temma,Yidel’s aunt who lived <strong>in</strong> Toronto.Life <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ivansk</strong> <strong>in</strong> the 1930’s was difficult. Mostpeople, Jews and Gentiles, were very poor.And yet there was a spiritual richness. Aschildren we played with nuts. We would rollmetal r<strong>in</strong>gs with sticks about the town. I recallthat there were many <strong>Jewish</strong> movementsactive <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ivansk</strong>. As a religious family we didnot participate <strong>in</strong> the Zion<strong>in</strong>st movement.The Gravesite. by Chaim PodeszwaOne of the two oil pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs that Yidel’s father sent toCanada <strong>in</strong> 1935 is shown (oil on canvas; 18” x 25”)An English translaton of the Hebrew <strong>in</strong>scription on thematzevah reads:Because of this, I cryFor my mother, my teacherMolly, daughter of KalmanWho died on the second dayOf Chol Hamoed Pesach5763 [1913]The matzevah sits on a stone wall guarded by twoconical pillars and a Polish eagle. A blue vessel (withflower) and a peacock are seen on either side. Thera<strong>in</strong>bow represents a traditional symbol of hope for thefuture.I was not the only member of my family whobecame an artist. My elder brother Melechwas a great pa<strong>in</strong>ter. He moved to Lodz wherehe and his friend Tvilich studied <strong>in</strong> the studioof a Bulgarian artist named Bengoli whotaught them to pa<strong>in</strong>t with a palette knife.Melech created hundreds of pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> Łódź,sign<strong>in</strong>g his name as “Wl. Padolski.” Thus far,noth<strong>in</strong>g that he created has been found s<strong>in</strong>cethe war.Cont<strong>in</strong>ued next page3 Yidel may be referr<strong>in</strong>g to Rabbi Rab<strong>in</strong>owitz who addressed his congregation <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Jewish</strong> cemetery on theeve of the Nazi deportation from <strong>Ivansk</strong>. [see: “The Funeral”, <strong>Ivansk</strong> Project e-Newsletter, No.3, 2004.]4The Shedlover rabbi was an important religious authority <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ivansk</strong> and came from the town of Shidlov(Yiddish; Szydlów, Polish). Yidel <strong>in</strong>dicates that the rabbi visited <strong>Ivansk</strong>; however, his house is identified as#65 on the Kesten-Brauner map. It is possible that the rabbi might have taken residence <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ivansk</strong> after Yideland his family moved to Łódź.Page 4The <strong>Ivansk</strong> Project e-Newsletter, No. <strong>51</strong>, November - December 2011
Conditions <strong>in</strong> <strong>Poland</strong> and <strong>Ivansk</strong> Before World War IIWith the end of World War I, <strong>Poland</strong> rega<strong>in</strong>ed its <strong>in</strong>dependence. Soon after, she was attacked bythe Soviet Union. The Poles put up strong resistance push<strong>in</strong>g back the mighty Russian army.Initially, the country appeared to ga<strong>in</strong> ground on the economic front, and civil liberties wereguaranteed for the nation’s m<strong>in</strong>orities. Jews enjoyed freedom as never before and several sat <strong>in</strong>the Polish parliament, the Sejm. However, nationalistic political movements were ga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gmomentum and anti-<strong>Jewish</strong> sentiments were heard on the streets and <strong>in</strong> government. Theeconomy also began to faulter and politicians provided no solutions. The threat of anarchy andrevolt were very real.Impatient with the lack of political will Józef Piłsudski, the renowned marshal of the army <strong>in</strong> thePolish-Soviet War, staged a military coup <strong>in</strong> 1926. He assumed dictatorial command of the nation,restor<strong>in</strong>g order and stabiliz<strong>in</strong>g the economy. He tried to muffle those who advocated punitivemeasures aga<strong>in</strong>st Jews, but was only moderately successful <strong>in</strong> block<strong>in</strong>g anti-Semitic legistlation.After Piłsudski’s death <strong>in</strong> 1935 nationalistic fervor erupted with a vengeance and social, politicaland economic discrimation aga<strong>in</strong>st the <strong>Jewish</strong> m<strong>in</strong>ority became official policy. For <strong>in</strong>stance, lawswere enacted prohibit<strong>in</strong>g kashrut; distribution of funds to the gmilot hesed (welfare) associationswas curtailed, and Jews were segregated or prohibited from <strong>in</strong>stitutes of higher learn<strong>in</strong>g. Mobviolence and boycotts were commonplace. And like the Nazis, Polish legistlators even explored theidea of forc<strong>in</strong>g Jews to leave the country. But <strong>in</strong> the late 1930s the doors to western countries weresealed aga<strong>in</strong>st immigration. Dur<strong>in</strong>g the Great Depression, as storm clouds were brew<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Europe,the US and Canada became <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly isolationist and xenophobic, and only a few immigrantswere permitted to enter even on the most extreme humanitarian grounds. There was no way outfor the Jews.As conditons deteriorated it became difficult for my father to provide for his family. Even bread wasscarce. Then, when it seemed that life could get no worse, a fire ravaged the town. People took tothe streets carry<strong>in</strong>g their “bet givants” (down duvets, otherwise known as an “ibberbets”).My father considered go<strong>in</strong>g to Łódź to f<strong>in</strong>d work, but my grandfather tried to persuade him to stay.My father sought the counsel of the Shedlover rabbi who approved his plan. So, my father wentalone to Łódź but at first was unable to send money back to <strong>Ivansk</strong>. The family was close tostarvation. These were the worst times of my life <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ivansk</strong>. My father had to save money to rent anapartment <strong>in</strong> Łódź and to buy tickets for the family to come to Łódź. Even now I cannot imag<strong>in</strong>ehow we ever survived as we did not have money to buy even bread. After several months myfather had enough money to send for some members of the family. When more money was saved Ifollowed with my mother. At that time, I started to pa<strong>in</strong>t and we had a normal, comfortable, andeven prosperous, life.In September 1939 the Germans <strong>in</strong>vaded <strong>Poland</strong>. My brother Melech as well as his new wife andmy three sisters stayed <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ivansk</strong>. At the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g we could still correspond with them until wewere pushed <strong>in</strong>to the ghetto (late April 1940). We stopped hear<strong>in</strong>g from them once we were sent tothe ghetto. Melech and his wife had a baby. As far as we know none of them survived. My brotherAlter, who went to Łódź with my father, got sick and was taken to the hospital <strong>in</strong> Łódź. Alter nevercame home. There was an epidemic of typhus <strong>in</strong> the ghetto and a lot of people died at that time.Conditions <strong>in</strong> <strong>Poland</strong> deteriorated rapidly as the Germans exploited and brutalized the population.All semblance of normal life disappeared. Jews were forced <strong>in</strong>to work camps and ghettos. Yideland his family were locked <strong>in</strong>to the Łódź ghetto, the largest <strong>in</strong> <strong>Poland</strong>. Because of its manufactur<strong>in</strong>gbase, Łódź was annexed <strong>in</strong>to the Wehrmacht.Page 5The <strong>Ivansk</strong> Project e-Newsletter, No. <strong>51</strong>, November - December 2011